Jettons are thought to have served a variety of uses including small change, gaming counters and accounting aids. However, nobody is really sure exactly what they were used for. They are almost always bronze, and many are pierced, leading to speculation that doing so 'cancelled' them in some way, which supports the idea of their use as a token. They were made from the late medieval period until around 1700, when they seem to have died out. Some makers (such as Hans Krauwinckel) were extremely prolific, and most collections will feature at least one of his jettons.

This is a rather beautiful French jetton dating from between 1250 and 1400. As often seems to be the case, this early example is less corroded than the other jettons in my collection, despite being the oldest.