• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Punishment for counterfeiters - Medieval Version
1 1

36 posts in this topic

"Boiling to Death

Boiling to death was usually reserved for poisoners, coin forgers and counterfeiters. It involved being flung into a cauldron of boiling water or oil and the accused would slowly scald to death."    

[https://www.history.co.uk/shows/britains-bloodiest-dynasty/]

Have a nice day! ;)

Edited by RWB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow.....the Medieval Period.....what a time to be alive!!! I had a history professor during my undergrad work said that it was his opinion that the Medieval Period was the single worst phase of human civilization to be alive in if you lived in Europe or the Near East.....and things like what is discussed in this article totally back up his stance!! I know the article was U.K. based but I wonder if the Eastern Romans did stuff like this.....I bet they did.  They sure dearly loved their blindings and slicing off noses.....I could completely see boiling people alive for them.  They had some nice coins and artwork, did those Eastern Romans, but I sure wouldn't have wanted to live there!!!

Edited by Mohawk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/15/2021 at 4:59 PM, Mohawk said:

Wow.....the Medieval Period.....what a time to be alive!!! I had a history professor during my undergrad work said that it was his opinion that the Medieval Period was the single worst phase of human civilization to be alive in if you lived in Europe or the Near East.....and things like what is discussed in this article totally back up his stance!! I know the article was U.K. based but I wonder if the Eastern Romans did stuff like this.....I bet they did.  They sure dearly loved their blindings and slicing off noses.....I could completely see boiling people alive for them.  They had some nice coins and artwork, did those Eastern Romans, but I sure wouldn't have wanted to live there!!!

sounds like afghanistan today....just give it a few more years the way things heading n can witness it first hand here....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/15/2021 at 8:15 PM, Quintus Arrius said:

On the bright side, if you want to call it that, was the rise of the penitentiary system as a civilized response to the over thousand offenses, many petty, that routinely resulted in a sentence of death carried out in many torturous ways, e.g., the Rack, the guillotine, hanging, boiling in oil, etc.

Oh, and have a nice day! 😉 

Well, compared to all of that fun Medieval stuff you listed, Quintus, the penitentiary system IS a bright point!!! Much more humane for sure!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/15/2021 at 8:15 PM, Quintus Arrius said:

On the bright side, if you want to call it that, was the rise of the penitentiary system as a civilized response to the over thousand offenses, many petty, that routinely resulted in a sentence of death carried out in many torturous ways, e.g., the Rack, the guillotine, hanging, boiling in oil, etc.

Oh, and have a nice day! 😉 

oh please mr magistrate whatever u do, dont send me to australia.....sydney, melbourne, canberra all those horrible places...i wont steal anymore bread....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/15/2021 at 8:47 PM, zadok said:

oh please mr magistrate whatever u do, dont send me to australia.....sydney, melbourne, canberra all those horrible places...i wont steal anymore bread....

"Transportation" to Australia and Devil's Island off Guyana was implemented, and abandoned, long long ago. The Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia gave way to the "congregate" and "solitary confinement" systems with "legal electrocution," introduced at Auburn State Prison in New Yok after experiments on AC vs DC current. Many jurisdictions have facilities under Federal oversight. Rikers Island is "physical." The Federal BOP is "psychological."

@RWB, our lifelong resident scholar has tastefully confined his remarks after only scratching the surface of medieval punishments, which are pursued at length on the web. (The last time I recall the subject was brought up was when a spike-studded "iron maiden" was recovered by the American military in Uday [older son of Saddam] Hussein's backyard when the family deserted Baghdad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You don’t have to go back that far to find truly sadistic behavior in Britain. The 18th century illustrates the Crown’s extreme cruelty just fine. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/16/2021 at 6:27 AM, Jason Abshier said:

Sounds like the Extra crispy version . I’ve heard of counterfeiters being hung and having their hands chopped off , never heard of the boiling water/oil death 

A "crock pot" version (the Bull of Phalaris) was also popular -- at least in parts of ancient Greece. It would have been a dandy way of discouraging counterfeiters.

RE: "...with "legal electrocution," introduced at Auburn State Prison in New Yok after experiments on AC vs DC current." As happily encourage by the lovingly creative Thomas Edison. He began by electrocuting mice and worked his way up to elephants, then sold the idea to criminal justice fans for human use.

Edited by RWB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/16/2021 at 4:15 PM, JT2 said:

Starts me to a thining maybe they were right.  I think we shold return to the middle ages :) 

As someone who took entire college level courses on the Byzantine Empire and the Medieval Caliphates, trust me, you do not want that.

Edited by Mohawk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yikes!  And I thought all the hangings in the US/Colonies in the 1700's/early 1800's for counterfeiting was rough.  They still have an execution cauldron on display in the Netherlands if that's your idea of sightseeing!

 

 

boilingcauldron.JPG

Edited by StrikeOutXXX
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now, wait a minute.  Boiling cauldrons are okay for a guy caught with 37 pewter of Fustina the Middle-Ager coins colored appropriately,   But what about the young woman caught with one, O-N-E Del Monte double saw buck?  She's no felon; in fact, she's rich! 

The vast majority of counterfeiters, I am sure you will agree, are purveyors of rare old coins and obsolete currency, paintings by the masters, (overlooked by the experts) stuff like books,  (which encouraged the notoriously silent Howard Hughes's autobiography (Clifford Irving's labor of love, 1971) to emerge from his penthouse in the desert) and various  paintings, which the well-heeled class liked so much they bought it anyway.)

Now, if the ordinarily mild-mannered  member, Just Bob, token reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper -- and you voice violent objections, the mischievous vapor, Quintus, will swiftly delete vestiges of his caustic commentary immdiately,never to be see again.

Let's face it, "overgrading," particularly when endorsed by a major TPG -- to a buyer, represents  nothing more than the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, awarded en masse by a group of graders sitting en banc, as judges, with a Finalizer having last word on an assemblage. (To my knowledge, the bad guys had the last word, expressed in moving pictures like "Scorpio" and  Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry.   🐓 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All I know is that my collection of fake Morgan dollars that my wife bought on line when I first got into numismatics, (she didn't know any better) is going to the garage ready for my grandkids to tack on to the fence post and target practice on. Boiling, uh uh, a crime deterrent from hell for sure. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/18/2021 at 9:49 AM, Quintus Arrius said:

Boiling cauldrons are okay

I have no objection to "boiling caldrons," teapots, soup spoons, or Mason jars. People should be dipped in a good seasoning first -- and maybe some Panko bread crumbs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/18/2021 at 9:49 AM, Quintus Arrius said:

Fustina the Middle-Ager coins

Okay, now THIS I love, Quintus!!! I didn't know that's who I was collecting though toward the end of her output, Faustina was indeed headed into middle age........lol

I feel like I've made an impact here now that what I collect has officially made it into a Quintus Arrius post (thumbsu

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/18/2021 at 7:48 PM, Mohawk said:

Okay, now THIS I love, Quintus!!! I didn't know that's who I was collecting though toward the end of her output, Faustina was indeed headed into middle age........lol

I feel like I've made an impact here now that what I collect has officially made it into a Quintus Arrius post (thumbsu

A Quintus Arrius post on a thread thoughtfully provided by @RWB ! Thanks, it doesn't get better than that!   🐓 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/18/2021 at 9:52 PM, Quintus Arrius said:

A Quintus Arrius post on a thread thoughtfully provided by @RWB ! Thanks, it doesn't get better than that!   🐓 

Indeed it does not!!! I have truly arrived!!!! I'm so glad I came back here :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/17/2021 at 9:04 AM, StrikeOutXXX said:

Yikes!  And I thought all the hangings in the US/Colonies in the 1700's/early 1800's for counterfeiting was rough.  They still have an execution cauldron on display in the Netherlands if that's your idea of sightseeing!

 

 

boilingcauldron.JPG

From Kawfee Talk: “I’ll give you a topic. The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire. Discuss.”

 

D0B143B7-40D2-45C3-8050-D7404333FB3D.jpeg

Edited by VKurtB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/20/2021 at 4:32 PM, VKurtB said:

From Kawfee Talk: “I’ll give you a topic. The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire. Discuss.”

yea but they had Charlemagne.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/20/2021 at 3:38 PM, zadok said:

yea but they had Charlemagne.....

Does Linda Richman know this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[I secretly envy all of you.  I believe each of you wrote the Administrator of the chat board stating, in substance, you are high-profile VIP's who should be exempted from NGC's community guidelines and content-moderation procedures.

You want proof?  Feel free to tap on my name and take a look at my NGC Chat Board rap sheet replete with warnings ⚠️  and a wrist slap for "inappropriate humor." I have no recollection of what I was alleged to have said, nor to whom. Granted, I am fluent in sarcasm, but inappropriate humor? Get outta town. From now on, like it or not, I am going to make an effort to be worthy of membership. Besides moderating me excessively has cost the company money and extended turn-around times.   🐓 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@VKurtB... if not for the intermittent on-site reporting, this would have been comparable to Arlington National Cemetery.  Considering the scarcity of road stands of the type you had long become accustomed to -- and perhaps took for granted, Rosemont was a shot in the arm for you. 🤔 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/22/2021 at 5:44 PM, Quintus Arrius said:

@VKurtB... if not for the intermittent on-site reporting, this would have been comparable to Arlington National Cemetery.  Considering the scarcity of road stands of the type you had long become accustomed to -- and perhaps took for granted, Rosemont was a shot in the arm for you. 🤔 

I have now gone longer having open submission forms coursing through the NGC machine continuously than at any time in my history in this field. All 4 of my PCGS crossovers are now back and at identical grades. My 14 Summer FUN submissions are still pending. The holdup is my British Crowns and my “ship together” order with two other forms.

Edited by VKurtB
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
1 1