EXPLAINEDCRAFT · PRINTS & COINS
The 'Flying Saucer' Jeton
c. 1656 · France
NO FREE IMAGE · EXAMINE IT AT THE SOURCE
OPEN THE SOURCE ↗WHAT IT IS
A small French token shows a tilted disc with a row of portholes hanging over a landscape, sending down a ray.
THE ALIEN READING
Kenneth Bressett, a former president of the American Numismatic Association who owns one, has said it could be a flying saucer in the clouds, or Ezekiel's wheel.
WHAT THE RECORD SAYS
It is the Ancile, the shield that fell from heaven to King Numa, under the motto 'opportunus adest' (it arrives when needed): an allegory of help from above (Cuoghi). Popular sources date it to 1680; the best evidence says 1656.
WHERE IT STANDS
Explained. Historians and archaeologists account for what it shows. The alien reading is a modern one.
STATUS IS OUR CURRENT ASSESSMENT, NOT A VERDICT · REVIEWED 3 OCT 2026
THE RECORD
- DATE
- c. 1656
- PLACE
- France
- MADE BY
- French counting-token mint
- MEDIUM
- Prints & coins
- TECHNICAL
- Jeton (counting token) · motto 'OPPORTUNUS ADEST' · no free image
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