Burgundy (1360-61) florin Fr-100
This specimen was lot 747 in Jean Elsen sale 151 (Brussels, June 2022), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANCE, BOURGOGNE, Duché, Philippe de Rouvres (1349-1361), billon florin d 'or, 1360-1361. Au type florentin. Différent: heaume. D/ PHS· DVX- BVRGON Fleur de lis. R/ S·IOHA-NNES B (heaume tourné à g.) Saint Jean-Baptiste deb. de f., ten. une croix longue. Très rare. Très Beau à Superbe. (France, duchy of Burgundy, Philip of Rouvres, 1349-61, billon gold florin, Florentine type, helmet privy mark, Obverse: fleur-de-lys; reverse: St. John the Baptist facing, bearing a long cross. Very rare, Very Fine - Extremely Fine.)
Philippe de Rouvres, le dernier duc de la lignée capétienne, était le fils posthume de Philippe de Bourgogne, l'héritier du duché décédé en 1346, et de Jeanne d'Auvergne. Il n'avait que deux ans lorsqu'il succéda à son grand-père Eudes IV en 1349. Son héritage était considérable puisqu'il comprenait le duché et le comté de Bourgogne ainsi que les comtés d'Artois et de Boulogne. Sa mère assura la régence et se remaria avec Jean de France, le futur roi Jean II. Le jeune duc épousa en 1357 Marguerite de Flandre, l'unique héritière du comte de Flandre Louis de Male, mais il mourut prématurément de la peste en 1361, à l'âge de quinze ans. Le duché de Bourgogne revint alors au roi Jean II qui décida de le transmettre à son fils cadet Philippe le Hardi. Celui-ci épousa en 1369 Marguerite de Flandre, la veuve de son prédécesseur. Ce florin porte un petit heaume comme différent, imitant les florins royaux du Languedoc frappés à partir de 1360. (Philippe de Rouvres, the last duke of the Capetian line, was the posthumous son of Philip of Burgundy and Jeanne of Auvergne. He was only two years old when he succeeded Odo IV in 1349. His inheritance was considerable and included the duchy and the counties of Artois and Boulogne. His mother assumed the regency and remarried with John of France, the future John II. The young duke married in 1357 Marguerite of Flanders, the sole heiress of Louis de Male, count of Flanders, but he died of the plague in 1361 at the tender age of fifteen years. The duchy reverted to the king John II, who conferred it on his younger son Philip the Bold. He married in 1369 Marguerite, the widow of his predecessor. This florin bears a small helmet as a privy mark, imitating the royal florins struck in Languedoc after 1360.)"
Philip de Rouvres was duke and count of Burgundy and count of Artois and Auvergne. He was not connected with the Valois dukes who formed a semi-independent state based in Flanders and Brabant. When Philip died in 1361, aged 15, without issue, the king of France granted the duchy to his youngest son, Philip the Bold. This coin is an imitation of the florin d'or of Florence.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: debased gold. This specimen is 3,46 g.
Catalog reference: Dumas 12-1-4; P.A. 5709; Fr-100.
- 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 151: Collection Paul Witte, Monnaies de Brabant, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2022.
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