Besancon 1582 4 pistolets Fr-73
This specimen was lot 2081 in Künker sale 439 (Osnabrück, March 2026), where it sold for €7,000 (about US$9,630 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANKREICH/FEODALES, BESANÇON Stadt. 2 Pistolen 1582, mit Titel Karls V. Nimbierter Doppeladler mit Wappen auf der Brust//Kopf Karls V. r. mit Lorbeerkranz. GOLD. RR Unregelmäßiger Schrötling, sehr schön-vorzüglich. (French States, city of Besançon, two pistoles of 1582, struck in the name of Charles V. Obverse: Nimbate double headed eagle supporting arms; reverse: laureate head right of Charles V. Very rare, very fine to extremely fine.)"
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. The mint right that Charles V granted to the town required that his portrait appear on all her coins; accordingly, it remained thereon for generations after his death. The auctioneers call this a double pistole; Numista calls it a quadruple pistole; we like the name quadruple pistolet. It is also known for 1579-80.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 13.21 g, gold, 33 mm diameter, this specimen 13,10 g.
Catalog reference: KM MB31, Carvalho/Clairand/Kind M1/1582; Fr-73.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Frühjahrs-Auktion 439: Gold Coins from around the world, particularly Denmark, Habsburg, Malta and Saxony | German Coins after 1871 including Coins from the Collection of Jürgen and Erika Schmidt, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2026.
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