Nuremburg jetton

Copper alloy jetton, made in Nuremberg, Germany, by Hans Krauwinckel II. Obverse: an orb in the centre with legend ‘HANNS.KRAVWINCKEL.IN.NV’. Reverse: rose in the centre with legend ‘GOTES REICH BLEIBT EWICK’ (meaning ‘God’s reign is eternal’). This is one of several jettons found during the excavations of the Rose Theatre on Bankside. Jettons were used for reckoning accounts – they would be placed on a board or grid and used as counting tokens when making financial calculations. They may also sometimes have been used as substitute coins. The use of counting tokens for accounts seems to cease in the mid-17th century. Presumably the jettons found at the Rose theatre were used by staff for calculating the theatre accounts, especially as very few were found in the audience areas.

The Rose was built in 1587 and was one of four purpose-built playhouses on the south bank of the Thames in London (the others were the Globe, the Hope and the Swan). It was demolished in 1606. Archaeologists discovered the remains of the Rose in 1988. Reference: Bowsher, J. & Miller, P. (2009), 'The Rose and the Globe - playhouses of Shakespeare's Bankside, Southwark. Excavations 1988-90’, MOLA Monograph 48.