Besancon 1546 1/2 carolus
This specimen was lot 2513 in Steve Album Auction 52 (Santa Rosa, CA, May 2025), where it sold for $96. The catalog description[1] noted, "BESANÇON: Charles V, 1519-1556, AR 1/2 carolus, 1546, issue as Holy Roman Emperor, bust of Charles V left, crowned, draped and cuirassed // arms of Besançon, XF-AU." This type, which Numista says was equal to a kreuzer, was struck steadily 1538-1610 in several varieties. Besançon was the chief city of the Franche Comté, or Free County of Burgundy. Franche Comté was part of the Burgundian inheritance which passed to the Hapsburgs in the 1490's and thence to Philip II of Spain on the abdication of Charles V in 1556. Besançon, being an imperial free city, was not directly involved in these transfers but was invaded and annexed to France by Louis XIV as a result of the Thirty Years War. Her coinage ceased in 1673.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.5 g, silver, 14 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: Roberts-7002, KM-MB23.
- Roberts, James N., The Silver Coins of Medieval France (476-1610 AD), S. Salem, NY: Attic Books, 1996.
- Nicol, N. Douglas, Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of German Coins, 1501-Present, 3rd ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Dustin Wagner, Auction 52, featuring the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection and the Almer H. Orr III Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2025.
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