Pearl circle
The pearl circle (also pearl rim or pearl ring; French grènetis ) is a circular arrangement of fine, raised points ("pearls") on the edge of coins ; it also sometimes occurs in round or oval frames. It can be seen as a sub or minor form of the pearl rod .
to form
If there is a pearl circle or a string of pearls on coins , it usually frames the entire coin image. The pearl circle can be placed on one or both sides of a coin. In addition to a simple pearl wreath, there are also double or multiple pearl circles. There are also variants that show non-circular beads or that show an alternating pattern of beads and other simple geometric figures.
function
Pearl circles (later also small edge bars) were not only decorative, they also served to protect the coin from (for) counterfeiting and thus from depreciation.
history
The pearl circle already appeared on ancient Greek coins . It is widespread on Roman coins from both the republican and imperial times. Byzantine coins also often show a pearl circle.
The introduction of ring minting made it possible from the 19th century onwards to emboss a raised edge on the edge of the coins, slightly protruding from the coin image. This edge rod often ends with a pearl circle towards the inside. The Coin Act of July 9, 1873 stipulated that the silver coins of the German Empire had to have a pearl circle.
literature
- Lexicon article Perlkreis in Friedrich v. Schrötter (Hrsg.): Dictionary of coinage . de Gruyter, 2nd unchanged. Edition, Berlin 1970 (reprint of the original edition from 1930), p. 499
- Lexicon article chopsticks in Friedrich v. Schrötter (Hrsg.): Dictionary of coinage . de Gruyter, 2nd unchanged. Edition, Berlin 1970 (reprint of the original edition from 1930), p. 624