Journal of Archaeology in the Low Countries 1-2 (November 2009)Liesbeth Troubleyn; Frank Kinnaer; Anton Ervynck; Luk Beeckmans; Danielle Caluwé; Brigitte Cooremans; Frans De Buyser; Koen Deforce; Konjev Desender; An Lentacker; Jan Moens; Gaston Van Bulck; Maarten Van Dijck; Wim Van Neer; Werner Wouters: Consumption patterns and living conditions inside Het Steen, the late medieval prison of Malines (Mechelen, Belgium)
5 The small finds

5.6 Metal artefacts

The cesspits (mainly pit 2) contained thirty coins, all but three made in an alloy of copper and silver. The unfavourable preservation conditions in the pits made these coins completely illegible. Three coins, however, were made of silver and are preserved in a better state. They all show a minting date in the end of the 13th or the beginning of the early 14th century. Another group of metal objects is formed by 54 tokens (méreaux), which had no real monetary value but were used as counters. They also often served as gaming tokens, probably the reason why they were found in the cesspit contexts. Other metal objects include two religious pilgrim’s badges, a number of fragments from buckles, strap loops and mounts, a small candlestick made in a pewter-lead alloy, a fragment of an iron knife blade and a bronze chape.