Besancon 1550 1/2 carolus
This specimen was lot 900 in Stephen Album internet sale 28 (Santa Rosa, CA, July 2024), where it sold for $102. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE: BESANÇON: Charles V, 1519-1558, AR 1/2 carolus, 1550, Free Imperial City issue, an attractive lustrous nearly mint state example, PCGS graded AU58. On May 8, 1534, Emperor Charles V granted his hometown the right to mint coins on the condition that his image would appear on them. After his death on February 24, 1558, these coins featuring the emperor's portrait continued to be minted posthumously for about 40 years." All of the coinage of this town bears Charles V's portrait, even long after his death. 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: silver.
Catalog reference: PA-5392, Duplessy-3039, KM-MB5 (unlisted date).
- Nicol, N. Douglas, Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of German Coins, 1501-Present, 3rd ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- Roberts, James N., The Silver Coins of Medieval France (476-1610 AD), S. Salem, NY: Attic Books, 1996.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Internet Auction 28, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
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