Bohemia (1336-45) florin d'or Fr-1
This specimen was lot 940 in Jean Elsen sale 146 (Brussels, November 2020), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted,
"LUXEMBOURG, Comté, Jean l'Aveugle (1309-1346), AV florin d'or, 1336-1345, Prague. Au type florentin. D/ (couronne) IOH'ES- R BOEH Lis florentin. R/ ·S· IOHA-NNES· B· Saint Jean-Baptiste deb. de f., ten. un sceptre. En haut à g., un petit heaume cimé d'un vol, tourné à d. Rare. Très Beau. (county of Luxembourg, John the Blind, 1309-46, gold florin, Prague mint, Florentine type. Obverse: Florentine lily; reverse: St. John the Baptist standing, facing, bearing a scepter. Above and to the left, a small helmet turned to the right. Rare, Very Fine.)
C'est sous le règne de Jean l'Aveugle que furent frappés à Prague les premiers florins d'or au type florentin, à partir de 1325. Les émissions de Prague présentent plusieurs différents: couronne, lion bohémien et heaume tourné vers la droite. R. Weiller date l'émission du type au heaume entre 1336 et 1345, lorsque Jean l'Aveugle autorisait des courtisans à faire battre des florins d'or à la monnaie de Prague sans frais, à concurrence de trois marcs par semaine, l'excédent éventuel se payant un florin par marc d'or. Le roi ayant engagé la plupart de ses mines d'or, on peut supposer que ce sont justement les engagistes des mines royales qui bénéficiaient de cette exemption sur la frappe des florins. L'emploi d'un autre différent s'imposait afin de pouvoir distinguer et contrôler ces nouvelles émissions. Jean l'Aveugle fit aussi monnayer un florin d'or à Luxembourg, lequel présente comme différent un heaume tourné vers la gauche (Weiller 53). (It was during the reign of John the Blind that the first Florentine-type gold florins were minted in Prague, from 1325. The Prague issues present several privy marks: crown, bohemian lion and helm turned to the right. R. Weiller dates the issue of the helm type between 1336 and 1345, when John the Blind authorized courtiers to have gold florins minted in Prague mint without charge, up to three marks per week, any excess being paid for one gulden per gold mark. The king having mortgaged most of his gold mines, one can suppose that it is precisely the mortgagers of the royal mines who benefited from this exemption on the minting of the florins. The use of another privy mark was necessary in order to be able to distinguish and control these new emissions. John the Blind also had a gold florin minted in Luxembourg, which had as a privy mark a helm turned to the left (Weiller 53).)"
John the Blind (1296-1346) was the count of Luxembourg from 1313 and king of Bohemia from 1310 and titular king of Poland. He is well known for having died while fighting in the Battle of Crécy at age 50, after having been blind for a decade. As this was minted in Bohemia, we have filed it under Bohemia, altho a nearly identical florin was struck in Luxembourg (Fr-1). Both are rare.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.50 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 3,49 g.
Catalog reference: Don. 814; Weiller, Etr., 335; Gamb. III, 802.
- 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]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 146: Collection Anthony Lorrain Monnaies de Metz, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2020.
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