Jametz 1588 20 sols
This specimen was lot 4715 in Künker sale 406 (Osnabrück, March 2024), where it sold for €1,600 (about US$2,100 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANKREICH/LOTHRINGEN, JAMETZ, STADT, Ku.-20 Sols 1588, geprägt während der Belagerung durch den Herzog Karl III. von Lothringen. * CHARLOTTE * DE * LA * MARCK Gekröntes Familienwappen de la Marck//IAMETZ / ASSIEGEE / * XX * / 1588 :. Von großer Seltenheit. Korrodiert, schön-sehr schön. (France, duchy of Lorraine, city of Jametz, copper twenty sols of 1588, struck during the siege by duke Charles III. Obverse: crowns arms of de la Marck; reverse: "IAMETZ / ASSIEGEE", value and date. Extremely rare, corroded, fine to very fine.)"
Wikipedia comments, "Charlotte de La Marck (1574-94) was a ruling Princess of Sedan and a Duchess of Bouillon in her own right between 1588 and 1594. Her titles and the principality of Sedan passed in to the House of La Tour d'Auvergne through her marriage without issue." Jametz, in the French department of the Meuse, counts 261 souls as of 2021. It strains credulity to believe that this village was worth a siege.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: copper, this specimen 2,83 g.
Catalog reference: Brause-Mansfeld Tf. 22, 2; Engel/Fabre/Perret/Wattier 4.8.6.1.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 406: Gold Coins | Coins and Medals from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. Löwenstein-Wertheim | German Coins after 1871, a. o. Patterns from the Coenen Collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
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