Lorraine (1346-52) plaque
This specimen was lot 938 in Jean Elsen sale 162 (Brussels, June 2025), where it sold for €420 (about US$582 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANCE, LORRAINE, Duché, Marie de Blois, régente pour son fils Jean Ier (1346-1352), AR plaque, Nancy. D/ + IOHANNES DVX MARCHIO DE LOTHORIGIA Dans un quadrilobe, l'écu écartelé de Lorraine et Blois entre trois couronnes. R/ + MARIE DVCHESS MANBOVRS DE LA DVCH Croix pattée courte cantonnée de quatre couronnes. Légende intérieure + MONETA DE NACEI. Rare. (France, duchy of Lorraine, Mary of Blois, regent for her son John I, 1346-52, silver plaque, Nancy mint. Obverse: within a quadrilobe, the quartered arms of Lorraine and Blois between three crowns; reverse: a short cross pattée cantoned with four coronets, double row legend around. Rare, about Very Fine.)
Le duc Raoul ayant trouvé la mort à la bataille de Crécy, sa femme Marie de Blois-Châtillon exerça la régence (ou mainbournie) pour son fils Jean Ier. Ses plaques frappées à Nancy et à Neuchâteau imitent les plaques d'argent frappées à cette époque par les comtes de Bar et de Luxembourg. (Duke Raoul having been killed at the Battle of Crécy, his wife Marie de Blois-Châtillon exercised the regency for her son Jean I. Her plaques struck in Nancy and Neuchâteau imitate the silver plaques struck at that time by the counts of Bar and Luxembourg.)"
The duchy of Lorraine, while culturally French, would remain part of the Empire until the eighteenth century. The plaque was generally valued as a double groat.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.82 g, silver, 28 mm diameter, this specimen 3,78 g.
Catalog reference: Saulcy V, 13; coll. Robert 1316; Flon 406, 1.
- Roberts, James N., The Silver Coins of Medieval France (476-1610 AD), S. Salem, NY: Attic Books, 1996.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 162: Collection Jacques Druart, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2025.
Link to:
- Lorraine (1329-46) 1/4 gros
- Hainaut (1345-56) plaque, Marguerite II d'Avesnes
- Lorraine (1390-1420) gros, Charles II
- Coins and currency dated 1346
- return to French royal coinage (to 1793)