A consignment I had at Triton did far better than expected, leaving me with some extra funds to spend, those went into a coin that has been on my bucket list ever since I discovered the type existed. Won it at Heritage last night, it was not cheap, but it is an amazing specimen of very high grade. The family on my mothers side draws it's heritage from Brittany and I spent virtually every summer holiday there at my grandparents who lived in the region, on top of that, knights were among the first things associated with history that caught my interest as a child. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brittany. Jean V (1399-1442) gold Florin d'Or au chevalier (1420-1423), Nantes mint, 2.95gm. 1st Emission. Obverse: +IOhΛnnЄS • DЄI • GRΛCIΛ • BRITOnV • DVX n (rosette stops), Jean, crowned and armored on horseback, brandishing sword in right hand, and holding shield in left, advancing right. Reverse: +DЄVS • InΛDIVTORIV • mЄV • InTЄnDЄ (rosette stops), cross fleuillue with rosettes in angles, all within quadrilobe with ermines in spandrels. References: Dup-264, Boudeau-Unl., PdA-657 var. (under Jean IV; legends), Bigot-556 var. (same), Jéz-319a, cf. Dhénin, "Florin et Double-Florin de Bretagne" (Revue Numismatique Vol. 15, 1973), pg. 212, 7-8 (1 example of each recorded). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Jean V, sometimes numbered as VI, bynamed Jean the Wise, was Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort from 1399 to his death. His rule coincided with the height of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Jean's reversals in that conflict, as well as in other internal struggles in France, served to strengthen his duchy and to maintain its independence. His alternative regnal name, Jean VI, as he is known traditionally in old English sources, comes from English partisan accounting as to who was the rightful duke of Brittany during the War of the Breton Succession, which had preceded the rule of his father. Although he faced problems which had lingered from it, his rule as duke was mostly unchallenged. Without significant internal and foreign threats, Jean V reinforced ducal authority, reformed the military, constructed a coherent method of taxation, and established diplomatic and trade contacts with most of Western Europe. Jean V was also a patron of the arts and the Church, and funded the construction of several cathedrals. He is known for creating the "Lycée Lesage" in Vannes." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ending the post with a photo of one of my favorite places, and a spot I spent countless hours at during my summer holidays as a child, the ruins of the castle of Trémazan located not far from the fishing village of Portsall in the Finistère region of Brittany.
Michael, Nice score with a great action scene on the obverse ! I've got a very common French gold coin from the same period as your coin pictured below.
Fantastic coin, from a fantastic place. I spent my last summer holidays not far from Trémazan, at Kerlouna (20 miles away from your place) Thanks for sharing Here's my ecu d'or minted 1422 CE for king Charles VII Q
Congratulations on your success at Triton and the beautiful Florin! The Medieval knight is superb! I can just hear the coconuts...
Nice Cavalier d'or! I was bidding on the MS-64 Rennes Mint/ lost it by a lot..... Here are a couple of mine from Burgundy I
My nearest in space and time, ecu d’or au soleil of Louis XII, 1498-1515. I believe the punch mark is intentional to denote the mint, but I don’t have the references to decipher it.
Have not found a good comprehensive site explaining the pointe system, but what I was able to discover suggests the Louis XII ecu d’or above was struck in Lyon, as the annulet is at the twelfth letter. Louis the XII was censured by Machiavelli in The Prince for making critical mistakes in his invasion of Italy. “Louis made these five errors: he destroyed the minor powers, he increased the strength of one of the greater powers in Italy, he brought in a foreign power, he did not settle in the country, he did not send colonies.” CoinTalk members who aspire to become conquerors and despots are advised to take heed.
Magnificent coin, @Michael Stolt!!! (...Along with everyone else's!) That late medieval gold is phenomenal, with those big flans. ...I need to back up and breathe a little. It was less than two centuries before that medievals were first experimenting with flans like that in silver.
