Matthias
This was the key to solving the riddle of my unknown coin from Norway. I found the top picture by an Australian lady doctor in her blog at Budapest, Hungary. She took beautiful pictures and I recommend this sort of thing as bro Bill's new retirement journal. Due to the rough condition of my coin it took many hours to decipher, but it was the bird with a ring in it's mouth that was the clue. It is a 1465 denar of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary and Croatia , also called the Raven King. It's a cute story of how he became known by this theme.
The bird on the family shield is a raven, after a story that the young John Hunyadi was commissioned by his mother, Elizabeth Szilagyi, to take a ring to the then-King of Hungary and Holy Roman Emperor, Sigismund of Luxembourg. She had been given this ring by him, during one of his hunting trips in the area where she resided. On the way to the royal court, young Hunyadi and a servant stopped, and he started napping. He was soon woken up by his servant, being told that the ring had been taken by a crow, and she was flying away with it in her bill. Hunyadi killed the crow with his last arrow, and when he was given a coat of arms, he chose to have a raven with a ring in its bill as his emblem. The Hunyadi family's name in Latin is "Corvinus", meaning "crow", or "raven".
This was Matthias favorite summer place the family's Hunyad Castle in Transylvania. Awesome. They waged many wars but I don't want to say they were a blood thirsty lot like Dracula and the vampire legends of the area. My coin was minted right there in Transylvania.
The Buda Royal Castle and Palace in Budapest where the Kings presided.
I hold 300 years worth Hungarian history in the palm of my hand. Hungarians are plentiful. Besides the "unknown 4" from Oslo (now deciphered), I also had two previously.
Briefly:
1308 Charles Robert King of Hungary & Croatia, in "Lock chapter". King on throne, ostrich with lucky horseshoe in mouth, ref coin ,tumultuous times.
1465 King Matthias Corvinus Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary & Croatia, crowned Royal Coat of Arms, raven with ring in beak, ref coin scarce, HUSZAR 558, spoke 6 languages.
1632 Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary & Bohemia, Germany, Arch Duke Austria, Madonna & Child (Mary and Jesus) in arm to right, cross on left, ref coin attempted to force Catholicism on subjects led to revolt and wars, Olmsteds first landed in America.
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