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The coins unearthed in the archaeological excavations at Turaida Castle
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first bourgeois republic was established. The obverse side of the coin bears an image of three
shields: in the centre there is a shield of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and on the
sides – shields of France and the Great Britain. Legend: DOMINO. FACTVM. EST. ISTVD
(This is the Lord’s doing). The reverse side bears a text in 11 lines: “The United Belgian States
(The United Provinces of the Netherlands), which have been recognized as independent by
the King of Spain and archdukes, after 42 years of continuous hostilities, with participation
of kings of France and the Great Britain, sign the Treaty of Truce and Union in 1609”.
The coin-weight, found in Turaida, was provided for checking the weight of coins
(TMR 27572). Such coin-weights are rare in the archaeological material. Coin-weights
called
exagium
(from Latin
exigere
– to test, check, examine), were already known in the
antique world.
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In English numismatics they are called “coin-weights”. Valuable coins,
especially the gold ones, often were maliciously clipped, weight loss of coins could arise
also as a result of wear, therefore, the coins might not correspond to their face value. A
habit to clip or file coins and thus to obtain precious metal was widely spread. Therefore, in
the 16th century, milled edges appeared, which prevented clipping of coins. Coin-weights
were used to identify damaged or worn coins and withdraw them from circulation. Small
scales, which usually had a round pan in one end and triangular in the other, were used for
weighing. Coin-weights were made of lower-quality material – copper or brass, in order
to distinguish them from coins. According to shape, these were rectangular plates, more
rarely – round, but there were also coin-weights in a form of a cube or a truncated cone,
etc. Starting with the 16th century, scales and sets of coin-weights were stored in special
decorated boxes, which were convenient for storage and transportation. On the boxes the
name of the manufacturing workshop was indicated (Fig. 7). In Germany, the majority
of scales and coin-weights were made in the 16th–18th centuries in Nürnberg and Köln,
from where a large part of production was exported. Coin-weights were manufactured also
in Amsterdam, Paris, and elsewhere. Coin-weights, included in the set, according to the
weight corresponded to the appropriate face value of the coin: ducats, rose nobles, and thal-
ers, etc. In order to ensure proper management of coin-weights, on one side of them there
was an imprint of face value – a stylized image of the coin or inscription. On the other side – a
mark of the workshop. The mark of the Antwerp’s workshop displayed the palm of a raised
right hand. Frequently, initials of the master were imprinted on the coin-weights. Coin-
weights for checking the weight of coins together with special scales were in use until
the 19th century (Fig. 8). A coin-weight from Turaida has been made in the workshop of
Antwerp. The initials “L – M” by the side of the hand belong to the master, who worked
in the workshop in the middle of the 16th century, his name is unknown.
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The other side
of the coin-weight shows the coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire – a bicephalous