Rings

Charming set of seventeeth-century wedding coins symblolizing wealth and loyalty envisaged for a married couple

Round, silver-gilt box with profiled banding at the base and flat lid with engraved motif: two right hands clasping a heart surmounted by a crown surrounded by sun rays, and underneath two crossed palm branches. Eleven (of originally 13) coins with identical motifs and inscriptions: one side with clasped right hands with the inscription “LA FERME ME CONTANTE” (the constant faith), and on the other side a Maltese cross with “S MARIA IESV” (Saint Mary Jesus). The initial “F” is engraved inside the lid and box (maybe the initial of the bride or shared surname?). The container is original to the coins and both the box and coins show signs of wear through age.

Literature:

“Las Arras Matrimoniale,” the thirteen coins, are historically reminiscent of the wedding dowry during past centuries. The giving of these coins continues today at Catholic wedding ceremonies in Spain, as well as in Hispanic countries in the Americas and the Philippines. More recently this ritual is incorporated in non-religious ceremonies in Spain.

After the blessing of the couple and exchange of wedding rings, the priest blesses these thirteen coins, and depending on the marriage rites (either Roman or Hispanic) different verses are exchanged during the ritual of the groom presenting the arras (translated as “earnest money”) to the bride as a symbol of his commitment to provide and care for his wife and family. By accepting the arras, the wife symbolizes her trust in the union. This tradition is thought to be of Mozarabic origin (Andalusian Christians), and the thirteen coins represent the twelve months of the year plus one extra for the less fortunate. Another, possibly later, Christian interpretation of the number is that the thirteen coins represent Jesus and the twelve Apostles.

The arras wedding coins were gifted to the bride either in an ornately decorated box, as here, or in a pouch and then kept as a memento of the marriage. The engraved image of the right hands clasping a heart symbolizes the wedding ritual, and the palm branches evoke the divine blessing.