Overview
Obverse: A bearded man’s head facing forward, wearing a biretta; three mullets of four points flanking on each side; “SANCTE PHILIPPE”
Reverse 1 (left): Heraldry of the Barony of Sternfeld (Mulletty of four points, on a bend cotissed, a laurel wreath)
Reverse 2 (right): “EVA REX GEN TIS” within a terminated long cross, around a trefoil of pellets in each angle
Medium: Pewter and Aluminum
Technique: Punchwork/Chasing; Engraving; Frosted texturing; Hammer-struck by hand
Completed: July 2025
Inspiration: Layout and design based off of the 15th century “Boy Bishop” tokens of Bury St. Edmunds
Created For: Barony of Sternfeld
Utilized At: Simple Days at the Faire (July 3-5 2025), in the Barony of Sternfeld
Notes
This was my first coin to bear the image of a human face, though significant practice was done on pewter sheets ahead of time to get the spacing correct.
My thanks go out to Master Emmerich of Vakkerfjell, who gave me significant guidance on constructing the image of a face from punches.
This coin was my second utilization of the frosted texturing technique, which was used to add definition to the cap and robe of the figure, giving a distinct difference in texture between the face and the clothing. Additional information on this technique can be found HERE.
Research & Resources
The primary request for this coin was that the front bear the image of St. Philip Neri, patron saint of laughter and joy.
Photo via Monastery Icons
The above depiction was what I chose to base my engraving off of, as the full beard and the miter cap had the best appearance when doing my test designs on pewter sheets.
In a serendipitous find, while searching for examples of coins depicting saints, I learned of the existence of the Bury St. Edmunds Boy Bishop tokens. Struck in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, these tokens were utilized in a variation of the Feast of Fools. On the Feast of St. Nicholas, a local boy was dressed in bishop’s attire and paraded around town, conducting “religious services” for the duration of the festival. While parading, he would hand out these tokens to the poor, which could be exchanged for alms or food at the local abbey.
Having been a period token that was exchanged specifically for food at a specific event, I found this a perfect analogue for feast tokens!
The original coins have been found in various sizes ranging from penny to groat. The best image I was able to find is of one of the groats (below), to give a general sense of appearance.
Though it cannot be easily read, the penny sized coin (which I attempted to recreate for this project) had an almost identical back to the groat, sans the outer ring of text.
The legend of the reverse is as follows:
“AVE REX GENTIS”, Long cross with three pellets in angles
The text translates to: Behold the king of the people
Additional information on the Boy Bishop tokens can be found at the following links:
- St. Nicholas Center – Medieval Boy Bishop Tokens
- Numista – Boy Bishop Penny Token
- Numista – Boy Bishop Groat Token
My original intent was for reverse 2 of this coin to be as close to a replica of this as possible, but as I was adding the final 3 letters, my brain slipped and forgot to reverse the order, so instead of “AVE” I had carved “EVA”. It did not compromise the overall appearance of the dies however, so I decided to keep it.
Now I can only hope that one day someone named Eve wins crown tourney, as the literal translation of my version reads: “Eve, king of the people”
Angist Arts 
