Bearn 1583 franc
This specimen was lot 866 in Jean Elsen sale 162 (Brussels, June 2025), where it sold for €150 (about US$208 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANCE, BÉARN, Henri II (1572-1589), AR franc d'argent aux H couronnés, 1583, Pau. Au titre de roi de Navarre. D/ B. l. et cuir. à d. R/ Croix formée de fleurons en forme de tulipes, cantonnée de quatre H couronnés. (France, kingdom of Béarn, Henry II, 1572-89, silver franc of the crowned H's of 1583, Pau mint, in the name of the king of Navarre. Obverse: laureate and armored bust right; reverse: cross formed of tulips and H's. Fine - Very Fine.)"
This type was struck 1583-84 along with another franc with the arms of Navarre on the reverse. In the sixteenth century, Béarn was still autonomous and struck its own coinage. Henry's assumption of the throne of France would mean the incorporation of Béarn into the kingdom but the mints there would issue distinctive types until the end of the ancien régime.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 12.6-13.6 g, 0.917 fine silver, 34-35 mm diameter, this specimen 13,78 g.
Catalog reference: B. 600; P.A. 3486; D. 1323.
- Roberts, James N., The Silver Coins of Medieval France (476-1610 AD), S. Salem, NY: Attic Books, 1996.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 162: Collection Jacques Druart, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2025.
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