Dombes 1650-A denier tournois

from the Mountain Groan Collection

Dombes in 1789, from Shepherd's Atlas

Gaston, duc d'Orleans, was the younger brother of king Louis XIII. He was a lifelong troublemaker but so long as the king was unable to produce an heir, his life was safe, no matter how many treasonable conspiracies he was involved in. The Dombes region lies south of Franche Comte and west of Savoy and was a fief of the Montpensier family, whose heiress Gaston married in 1626. He struck coins for the region until his death in 1660 and the area reverted to the French crown on the death of his daughter in 1693. The SCWC lists this type for 1649-54.

Recorded mintage: unknown but common.

Specification: copper.

Catalog reference: KM 29.

Source:

• Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.

Link to:

• Dombes 1620 denier tournois
• Dombes 1643 15 deniers
• Dombes 1644 15 deniers
• Dombes (1650-93) ducat Fr-132
• Dombes 1652 ecu Dav-3830
• Coins and currency dated 1650
• return to French royal coinage (to 1793).