Brittany (1341-64) gros
This specimen was lot 1398 in Jean Elsen sale 155 (Brussels, June 2023), where it sold for €280 (about US$367 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANCE, BRETAGNE, Duché, Charles de Blois (1341-1364), billon gros à la fleur de lis. D/ Lis florencé dans un polybe, surmonté d'une couronnelle et accosté de besants. R/ Croix pattée cantonnée de quatre fleurs de lis. Rare. Beau à Très Beau. Imitation du gros à la fleur de lis florencée de Jean II, émis en 1358. (France, duchy of Brittany, Charles of Blois, 1341-64, billon groat of the fleur-de-lys. Obverse: Florentine lily in a polylobe, surmounted by a coronet and between bezants; reverse: cross pattée cantonned with four fleurs-de-lys. Rare, Fine - Very Fine. Imitation of the groat of the fleur-de-lys of John II, emission of 1358.)"
Wikipedia comments,
"Charles of Blois-Châtillon (1319-64), nicknamed "the Saint", was the legalist Duke of Brittany from 1341 until his death, via his marriage to Joan, Duchess of Brittany and Countess of Penthièvre, holding the title against the claims of John of Montfort. The cause of his possible canonization was the subject of a good deal of political maneuvering on the part of his cousin, Charles V of France, who endorsed it, and his rival, Montfort, who opposed it. The cause fell dormant after Pope Gregory XI left Avignon in 1376, but was revived in 1894. Charles of Blois was beatified in 1904."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 3,16 g.
Catalog reference: Roberts-6011, Jézéquel 155; P.A. 469; D. 112A var.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 155, Collection Marc Bar et Distinctions de Jean-Baptiste Nothomb, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2023.
- Roberts, James N., The Silver Coins of Medieval France (476-1610 AD), S. Salem, NY: Attic Books, 1996.
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