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17th Century French Coin Avec UFO?

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Mighty_Emperor

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Worth a warning - PRWeb will do a press release for you if you pa them the wonger and some dubious old rubbish has been pumped out as a result (although that needn't mean it is rubbish just to be cautious).

All Press Releases for January 28, 2005

Centuries' Old UFO Coin Remains Mystery


An unidentified flying object on a 17th century French coin continues to mystify rare coin experts.

Colorado Springs, CO (PRWEB) January 28, 2005 -- After decades of seeking possible answers about a mysterious UFO-like design on a 17th century French copper coin, a prominent numismatic expert says it remains just that: an unidentified flying object. After a half-century of research, the design has defied positive identification by the numismatic community.

"It was made in the 1680s in France and the design on one side certainly looks like it could be a flying saucer in the clouds over the countryside," said Kenneth E. Bressett of Colorado Springs, Colorado, a former President of the 32,000-member American Numismatic Association and owner of the curious coin.

"Is it supposed to be a UFO of some sort, or a symbolic representation of the Biblical Ezekiel's wheel? After 50 years of searching, I've heard of only one other example of it, and nothing to explain the unusual design."

Bressett said the mysterious piece is not really a coin, but a "jeton," a coin-like educational tool that was commonly used to help people count money, or sometimes used as a money substitute for playing games. It is about the size of a U.S. quarter-dollar and similar to thousands of other jetons with different religious and educational designs that were produced and used in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.

"The design on this particular piece could be interpreted as showing either a UFO or Ezekiel's wheel, but little else. Some people think the Old Testament reference to Ezekiel's wheel may actually be a description of a long-ago UFO," he explained.

"The legend written in Latin around the rim is also mystifying. 'OPPORTUNUS ADEST' translates as 'It is here at an opportune time.' Is the object in the sky symbolic of needed rainfall, or a Biblical reference or visitors from beyond? We probably will never know for certain," said Bressett.

"It is part of the lure of numismatics that makes coin collecting so intriguing."
Click to expand...

Source (pictures of both sides available from there)
 
As long as this is not a hoax or an early April 1st joke - it is very interesting!

At the moment I'm doing a little research to make sure it's for real as you can do some wonderful things with a copy of photoshop!! 8)

Thanks for the caution Emps...!
 
I've seen this token before so if it is a fake, it isn't recent.

There is no shortage of mysterious emblems from this period. The Prophecies attributed to Paracelsus, for example, a series of woodcuts with gnomic verses or mottoes, show a number of symbolic objects suspended in the air.

This UFO may just represent a millstone - a symbol of co-operation, which would be fitting for a token with some trade association.

:confused:
 
Ah yes, the Prognostications - do you know who made those woodcuts?
I tried to find out a while back and had no luck.

But without knowing a bit more about who made the enigmatic coin, it's hard to tell. 17th Cent UFO-watcher's club?
 
I did some research on this coin, which I posted elsewhere on the web. It included looking up the words in the latin inscription on the obverse side:

Recto: Opportunus Ad Est (It is here at an opportune time)
Verso: Haec per te aucta colam

The other side, with flowers being watered by a cloud, says something like "Thus, by you, the Dove, all things (are made to grow, to increase)".

If you look at enough medieval and other religious artworks, you will find plenty of "UFOs" which are generally connected to the Annunciation to the Virgin.

The flowers which are growing under the rain on the obverse are probably white lilies, symbol of the Virgin and of France and the French Crown--three toads (crapauds) were replaced by three white lilies (lis blancs) on the arms of the French kings in the early modern period.

Consequently I conclude that this coin, or more properly "jeton", or token, was probably used to buy Holy Water or for some other religious purpose, the way that subway tokens were used at a later date.

It is only a mystery to coin collectors--it wouldn't mystify an art historian or theologian. Nice work, though.

I love a good mystery--it doesn't matter much whether it is to solve it or to treasure it unsolved. Like money, having and spending is equally good in their own way.

Notes from my Googling:

"Grandescunt aucta labore"- By work all things increase and grow

colam=dove or pigeon in Irish (and medieval Church Latin), and obviously is derived from columba (as is Columbus).

From a page on latin recipes:

Colam sive glutum superius memoratam hoc modo facies, Accipe ollam et impone cornua cervorum cesa in parvis partibus…cum aliquo instrumento deponatur tunc quid clarius elucescit.
 
The tabloids (Mirror and Daily Mail) have decided it's a slow news day and resurrected this "UFO on a coin" story.

e.g. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/proof-ufos-visited-earth-throughout-7492890

There's a nice analysis of it here, with a lot of examples :

https://www.metabunk.org/ufo-on-coin.t5539/

There are several theories as to what the picture on this jeton signifies:
  • a stylized flower
  • a shield sent from Heaven to protect the country
  • Ezekiel's wheel (basically God's throne on 'wheels')
  • an UFO (unidentified flying object)
 
Tribble said:
The tabloids (Mirror and Daily Mail) have decided it's a slow news day and resurrected this "UFO on a coin" story.

e.g. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/proof-ufos-visited-earth-throughout-7492890
Click to expand...

The confusion is well summed-up by the caption to the saucer picture:
" Investigators are convinced the carving shows a UFO"
How can you be convinced that something is an unidentified anything? After all, UFO (or should it be OVNI in this case?) is little more than shorthand for "don't know".
 
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What about this then?
Definite proof of UFOs being celebrated... ;)

2pounds1999rugbyrev.jpg
 
Nah! That's obviously a rugby ball. As confirmed by the rugby goal posts around the edge of the coin! :p
 
Do a web search on "rugby 1999" and you'll find the reason for this commemorative coin, and also that there are many other styles. :cool:
 
Is there a pic of the coin, the original link doesnt show it anymore?
 
Tribble said:
The tabloids (Mirror and Daily Mail) have decided it's a slow news day and resurrected this "UFO on a coin" story.

e.g. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/proof-ufos-visited-earth-throughout-7492890

There's a nice analysis of it here, with a lot of examples :

https://www.metabunk.org/ufo-on-coin.t5539/

There are several theories as to what the picture on this jeton signifies:
  • a stylized flower
  • a shield sent from Heaven to protect the country
  • Ezekiel's wheel (basically God's throne on 'wheels')
  • an UFO (unidentified flying object)
Click to expand...
Original coin here
coim-jpg.11076


There are several other coins on that site with similar motifs, all of which taken together seem to favour the 'shield sent from Heaven to protect the country' interpretation. Still sounds pretty anomalous to me.
They look great, and suitably weird.

french-coin-ufo_thumb-3-jpg.11089

914445-jpg.11083
 
Carmilla K said:
Scroll up.:)

Sorry, wrong coin.:oops:
Click to expand...
Thats ok, we all have 'senior moments' dear :p
eburacum said:
Original coin here
coim-jpg.11076


There are several other coins on that site with similar motifs, all of which taken together seem to favour the 'shield sent from Heaven to protect the country' interpretation. Still sounds pretty anomalous to me.
They look great, and suitably weird.

french-coin-ufo_thumb-3-jpg.11089

914445-jpg.11083
Click to expand...
Thank you dear
 
Thanks to Ebaracum for posting those images; the more versions we have, the better.

Artists varied these motifs and may have introduced their own puzzles: the arrow or ray which emerges from the centre of the top coin seems to become a simple point later. All seem to give a fair depiction of the embossed designs on a shield.

A discussion of the words on the bronze coin here! :)
 
eburacum said:
Original coin here
coim-jpg.11076


There are several other coins on that site with similar motifs, all of which taken together seem to favour the 'shield sent from Heaven to protect the country' interpretation. Still sounds pretty anomalous to me.
They look great, and suitably weird.

french-coin-ufo_thumb-3-jpg.11089

914445-jpg.11083
Click to expand...
Louis XIV: Sun King. The image is a stylized Sun Flower.
 
Carmilla K said:
Louis XIV: Sun King. The image is a stylized Sun Flower.
Click to expand...

Interesting, the dates are about right - but it just doesn't look like a sunflower to me, stylised or otherwise. Plus, how to we get from `sun king` to sun flower`? And why would an absolute monarch, claiming to represent God sanction such an apparently pagan type of image?

(In short, I am not Certain of this interpretation)

A shield seems more apposite to me - since Loius XIV was an aggressive and expansionist fellow.

I am reminded that the Romans spoke of `flying shields`.

The source for this story this time around seems to be one Scott. C.Waring - who is a crackpot if there ever was one. On one of his posts he shows a well known picture of one of the Apollo capsules in orbit above the moon - and tries to claim that it shows a structure actually on the surface of the moon! Essentially he is just a blogger who has somehow come to be cited by newspapers as though he was an authority on the UFO issue (in fact he is an English teacher living abroad, like myself).

However, another thread in this section brackets him in with a lot of hoaxers - this I do not believe: the guy is himself sincere but has sometimes taken the work of other hoaxers at face value.

In partial defence of the UFO thesis: I would like to make the point that an image does not have to be either/or in terms of what it depicts. This could be a shield, but the idea of representing it as in the sky may have come about through people having seen anomalous objects in the sky - and choosing to interpret these as protective shields sent by God.
 
Zeke Newbold said:
Interesting, the dates are about right - but it just doesn't look like a sunflower to me, stylised or otherwise. Plus, how to we get from `sun king` to sun flower`? And why would an absolute monarch, claiming to represent God sanction such an apparently pagan type of image?

(In short, I am not Certain of this interpretation)

A shield seems more apposite to me - since Loius XIV was an aggressive and expansionist fellow.

I am reminded that the Romans spoke of `flying shields`.

The source for this story this time around seems to be one Scott. C.Waring - who is a crackpot if there ever was one. On one of his posts he shows a well known picture of one of the Apollo capsules in orbit above the moon - and tries to claim that it shows a structure actually on the surface of the moon! Essentially he is just a blogger who has somehow come to be cited by newspapers as though he was an authority on the UFO issue (in fact he is an English teacher living abroad, like myself).

However, another thread in this section brackets him in with a lot of hoaxers - this I do not believe: the guy is himself sincere but has sometimes taken the work of other hoaxers at face value.

In partial defence of the UFO thesis: I would like to make the point that an image does not have to be either/or in terms of what it depicts. This could be a shield, but the idea of representing it as in the sky may have come about through people having seen anomalous objects in the sky - and choosing to interpret these as protective shields sent by God.
Click to expand...

These coins, or rather, the designs upon them, were meant to emphasise the 'Divine nature' of Louise XIV.
It was obviously felt that the population needed constant reminders of this, as these stylized sunflowers replaced what would normally be a portrait of the king himself. You will notice that one of the coins (1648) shows arrows pointing down from the clouds (heaven) towards the upturned flower. The suggestion being that Louis was 'deposited' here by the will of God. Rather crude, yet deemed necessary, just to leave the populace in no doubt.
In another coin (1656) although worn, you can make out the figure of Louise himself seated within the flower.( at the top left.)
 
Carmilla K said:
These coins, or rather, the designs upon them, were meant to emphasise the 'Divine nature' of Louise XIV.
It was obviously felt that the population needed constant reminders of this, as these stylized sunflowers replaced what would normally be a portrait of the king himself. You will notice that one of the coins (1648) shows arrows pointing down from the clouds (heaven) towards the upturned flower. The suggestion being that Louis was 'deposited' here by the will of God. Rather crude, yet deemed necessary, just to leave the populace in no doubt.
In another coin (1656) although worn, you can make out the figure of Louise himself seated within the flower.( at the top left.)
Click to expand...

Okay, fair does then. You seem to know what you are talking about here. (Did you major in H`istory at uni, or something?)

I can just make out what could be a figure on the top far left of one of the `flowers` - it seems a strangely undignified way to depict a king though!

And btw - do the French actually call sunflowers `sunflowers`? Any Francophones out there?
 
"I am reminded that the Romans spoke of `flying shields`...choosing to interpret these as protective shields sent by God."

Interesting account of Heaven-sent "flying shields" here:

https://esoterx.com/2017/01/01/charlemagne-frank-encounters-with-ufos/


"And btw - do the French actually call sunflowers `sunflowers`? Any Francophones out there?"

The modern French word is le tournesol, but they used to call them héliotrope.
 
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