Henri Terisse authored an excellent and fascinating reference work on the subject titled “La numismatique du mariage” (The Numismatics of Marriage), which was published in 2008. If you are interested in the subject and speak French, we highly recommend it for your reading pleasure.

Marriage medal

Before we get to the boxes and other bracteates that have their role to play on the day of the actual wedding, we must of course mention the matter of the announcement in the form of a medal.

This tradition is not particularly recent, as announcements in monetary form were in practice as early as ancient times.

For example, this silver denarius issued in 225 on the occasion of Sallustia Orbiana’s marriage to Severus Alexander.

Then, as of the Renaissance and the great beginnings of the world of medals, crowned heads, royal families, and then more broadly everybody with the means became eager to communicate their upcoming unions with the plentiful use of diverse and varied medals.

A good accessory when you marry

Beyond these luxury advertising tokens, another more private tradition was born in France in the 5th century on the occasion of the wedding of Clovis and Clotilde.

The king of the Franks presented his bride with a sou and a denarius. As a denarius was worth twelve sous at the time, this is the first appearance of the number 13 which prefigures the tradition of the treizain de mariage.

Thus, thereafter, it became tradition to give a set of thirteen coins in a box as a gift, preferably in gold if one was of royal blood, at the time of one’s nuptials. Noblesse oblige.

And thus, the treizain de mariage was born.

In 1563, the Council of Trent “officialized” religious marriage and established the ceremonial rules. The treizain was not forgotten and was blessed by the officiant during the ceremony. The symbolism of the number 13 became associated with Jesus and his twelve disciples.

Initially, the set was to be composed of “real” coins as in this box, and some even contain coins minted specially for the occasion.

The contents of the box can, however, vary with wedding coins. These are what are called bracteate love tokens, when you can’t afford to put thirteen gold or silver coins in your box! 

For ease of use, they are struck in series on a thin layer of metal, with only one side in relief from the other:

If you feel like being a little different or creative – no problem! Simply connect two bracteates together: 

It’s kind of the costume currency of the time.

Furthermore, a bit of romanticism is sometimes not to be excluded in the case, as here with these heart-shaped bracteate deniers.

Love tokens may or may not include a legend and sometimes the coat of arms of the spouses. The metals of choice were generally gilt silver, silver, or – for those with the means – gold.

Henri Terisse also mentions that the tradition survived in the Bordeaux region of France until the end of the 20th century and that is in the midst of a revival of interest in Spain nowadays.

Bonus

Marriage and PACS (French civil solidarity pact) by Christian Lacroix

Although the treizain is no longer popular, you may have a union in mind, and the Monnaie de Paris has created customizable marriage and PACS medals (to be engraved by your jeweler) elegantly designed by Christian Lacroix.

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Paintings:

• "Waiting for the best man" by Illarion Pryanishnikov (1891) (Domaine public)
• "Signing the marriage contract" by George Sheridan Knowles (1905) (Domaine public)

 

Sources:

• https://www.wikimoneda.com/OMNI/revues/OMNI11/OMNI11_15.pdf 
• https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/bract%C3%A9ate 
• https://duguet.pagesperso-orange.fr/treizain.htm