France 1559-B henri d'or
This specimen was lot 857 in Jean Elsen sale 122 (Brussels, September 2014), where it sold for €1,700 (about US$2,604 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANCE, Royaume, François II (1559-1560), AV henri d'or, 1559 B, Rouen. A l'effigie et au nom de son père Henri II. Droit: B. l. et cuirassé à droite, la cuirasse damasquinée. Revers: Croix formée de quatre H couronnés, cantonnée de deux croissants et de deux lis. Provient de Bankhaus Aufhäuser, vente 4, Munich, 7-8 octobre 1987, 752. Très Rare. Beau à Très Beau. (kingdom of France, Francis II (1559-60), gold henry of 1559, Rouen mint, in the name and effigy of his father Henry II. Obverse: laureate and armored bust to right; reverse: cross formed of four crowned "H's" divides two crescents and two lilies. From Bankhaus Aufhäuser, sale 4, Munich, October 1987, lot 752. Very rare, fine to very fine.)"
This type was struck at numerous mints 1550-62. It had a face value of fifty sols tournois, the same as the écu d'or. The denomination was continued after his death in 1559 by his teenage sons, Francis II and Charles IX.
Recorded mintage: 28,100 (including some with a laureate bust, Sb-4986)[2].
Specification: 3.65 g, 0.958 fine gold, this specimen 3,55 g.
Catalog reference: Dupl-1023A; Ci., 1243 (Henri II); Laf., 858; Fr-368; Sb-4976.
- Duplessy, Jean, Les Monnaies Françaises Royales de Hugues Capet à Louis XVI (987-1793), Tome II, 2e édition, Paris: Maison Platt, 1999.
- [2]Sombart, Stéphan, Franciae IV: Catalogue des Monnaies Royales Françaises de François Ier à Henri IV (1540-1610), Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 1997.
- 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]Philippe Elsen et al., Vente Publique 122: Collection de monnaies chinoises, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils, S. A., 2014.
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