Flanders (1370-84) chaise d'or Fr-163
This specimen was lot 828 in Jean Elsen sale 137 (Brussels, June 2018), where it sold for €3,500 (about US$4,870 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"VLAANDEREN, Graafschap, Lodewijk van Male (1346-1384), AV nieuw gouden schild met de leeuw (écu d'or au lion), 1370/1372-1384, Gent en Mechelen. Vz/ De gezeten graaf, gekroond met rozen, met in de rechterhand een opgeheven zwaard en de linkerhand rustend op een leeuwenschild. Kz/ Gebloemd kruis in een vierpas. Vier rozen buiten de inspringende hoeken. Prachtexemplaar. Prachtig à Fleur de Coin. (county of Flanders, Louis de Male, 1346-84, new écu d'or of the lion, 1370-84, Ghent or Mechelen mint. Obverse: the count, seated and crowned, holds a rose and a sword with a shield at his feet; reverse: floriate cross in quadrilobe, roses in the quarters. Choice example, about uncirculated.)"
Louis II de Male was count of Flanders when that province was one of the richest regions of Europe. Nominally part of France, Louis refused to pay homage to either the king of France or the king of England, steering a neutral course during the Hundred Years War. It was then that this imitation of a French chaise d'or was struck. This is the later of two types; the first shows an eagle on the count's shield rather than a lion. Later, he married his daughter to Philip, duke of Burgundy, uniting the two houses against the authority of the king of France.
Reported Mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold, this specimen 4,44 g.
Catalog reference: Gaill. 218; Delm-466; Elsen 38; Martiny, Gent, 48; Fr-163.
- 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 137, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils, S.A., 2018.
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