Jambiyah with Venetian ducats

thinreadline · 18th January 2012, 11:17 AM

I recently bought this jambiyah at an arms fair along with a big lot of other knives . They all worked out very cheap and the seller would not split the lot. Jambiyahs are not my interest and so I was intending to sell it on at a bargain price .. but failed to do so and brought it home. It was only when I looked closely at the hilt rivets that I saw that they were coins rather than brass discs as I had originally believed . The coin depicted a figure surrounded by stars and a motto REGIS ISTE DUCA plus some unreadable stuff. A bit of research revealed this to be a Venetian gold ducat of the mid 18th C . You can imagine my excitement ... especially when I discovered that the coins were worth £250 each !
However I did think that that seemed improbable on such a low grade dagger. Further research led me to a character named Frederick William Hasluck (1878 – 1920) who was an English antiquarian, historian, and archaeologist . Amongst many items bequeathed by his wife to the British Museum was a collection of fake Venetian ducats which he had acquired in Alexandria in 1910 . I attach a picture of several examples of these from the British Museum collection ( some collected by others than Hasluck ).
It seems that variants of these turned up in India, Arabia and the Levant, as well as Africa . It seems that imitations of these imitations were ( and may still be ) made in India , Egypt , Lebanon, and from the Yemen. Gradually the Christian symbolism of the original Venetian coins morphed into depictions of Hindu deities in the Indian made copies British and perhaps German or Austrian firms also mass-produced the crude Indian or Levantine jewelry imitations that were then exported to India, and also sold to African natives through the colonial trade .
Well I suppose this is a long winded way of saying .. dont take things at face value and dont get too excited especially when you you are dabbling in areas you dont know anything about . But its been fun learning a bit more about all this.
Nevertheless hope springs eternal in the human breast and so as a last ditch I am off to the jewellers to get them tested !

18th January 2012, 11:17 AM	#1
thinreadline Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Wirral Posts: 1,204	Jambiyah with Venetian ducats I recently bought this jambiyah at an arms fair along with a big lot of other knives . They all worked out very cheap and the seller would not split the lot. Jambiyahs are not my interest and so I was intending to sell it on at a bargain price .. but failed to do so and brought it home. It was only when I looked closely at the hilt rivets that I saw that they were coins rather than brass discs as I had originally believed . The coin depicted a figure surrounded by stars and a motto REGIS ISTE DUCA plus some unreadable stuff. A bit of research revealed this to be a Venetian gold ducat of the mid 18th C . You can imagine my excitement ... especially when I discovered that the coins were worth £250 each ! However I did think that that seemed improbable on such a low grade dagger. Further research led me to a character named Frederick William Hasluck (1878 – 1920) who was an English antiquarian, historian, and archaeologist . Amongst many items bequeathed by his wife to the British Museum was a collection of fake Venetian ducats which he had acquired in Alexandria in 1910 . I attach a picture of several examples of these from the British Museum collection ( some collected by others than Hasluck ). It seems that variants of these turned up in India, Arabia and the Levant, as well as Africa . It seems that imitations of these imitations were ( and may still be ) made in India , Egypt , Lebanon, and from the Yemen. Gradually the Christian symbolism of the original Venetian coins morphed into depictions of Hindu deities in the Indian made copies British and perhaps German or Austrian firms also mass-produced the crude Indian or Levantine jewelry imitations that were then exported to India, and also sold to African natives through the colonial trade . Well I suppose this is a long winded way of saying .. dont take things at face value and dont get too excited especially when you you are dabbling in areas you dont know anything about . But its been fun learning a bit more about all this. Nevertheless hope springs eternal in the human breast and so as a last ditch I am off to the jewellers to get them tested ! Attached Images