The Hoard of Gisors was discovered in 1970 (Michel Amandry - Tresors Monetaires XXV). It appears to have been deposited after 1244 and comprises 11375 coins, both royal and baronial issues that were in circulation at least until the early 1240s. From these, about 100+ were of this rare type minted by Robert II at his fief Chateau Dreux. This singular Dreux coinage was minted during an early attempt at monetary regulation by Philippe II Augustus, starting as early as 1191. Robert II as Count of Dreux 1184-1218 AR21mm, 0.65g, billon denier parisis, Chateau de Dreux mint, cca. 1191-1200 X MI. ROBERTVS; A CO / MES in field in 2 lines + DRVCAS CASTA; cross with A in 1st and 4th quarters. Boudeau 4, Poey d'Avant #91 Robert II de Dreux was the son of Robert de France, the founder of the Capetian House of Dreux, who received the realm as an appanage from his father, King Louis VI of France in 1152. The county had been an independent fief before, during the late 10th and first quarter of the 11th century (see here for the early 11th century coinage of Nogent-le-Roi), but it was confiscated by King Robert II in 1021/1023 as a result of an inheritance conflict between Richard II of Normandy and Eudes II de Blois and reattached to the Royal domain. With Robert de France, in 1152 began the second foundation of the County of Dreux and the Dreux lineage of the Capetian family. The deniers of Dreux minted under Robert's authority were, like those minted in Boulogne, Saint Quentin or Abbeville, imitations of the royal parisis minted by Philip II. These coinages were part of an attempt to unify the monetary system of the Kingdom of France and the feudal fiefs in the North and North-East in the late 12th and early 13th century. After 1204, the parisis circulated alongside the royal denier tournois, the other royal coinage of Philippe II, turned from local to royal during the conflicts between Philippe and John Lackland. In "Money and Its Use in Medieval Europe" (p. 199) Peter Spufford considers these parisii to have been minted either by Robert II or Robert III de Dreux (1218-1234) or by both of them as an immobilized type. By their rarity, this seems unlikely. Also judging by the intense wear of this particular specimen, it seems to have been in circulation for a very long time before being hoarded around 1244, which usually indicates an earlier issue, very likely under Robert II. Coins from the Hoard of Gisors have been offered and collected for around 40 years, but not so much the coins of Robert II de Dreux.
That is a very interesting coin Seth, thank you for sharing it. Was the coinage of the Capetian House of Dreux limited to the parisii of Robert II and Robert III? I've seen coins from the Gisors hoard for sale over the last few years, most of them English. There are a few I have picked up, one of Henry II being my favorite.
I think it is very unlikely that Robert III actually minted himself. These deniers parisii are very likely of Robert II, minted during the 1190s and maybe later to 1200, at the same time with the parisii of King Philippe II. The wear on these coins from Gisors also indicates that they circulated intensely before being hoarded around 1244. It is also similar to the wear that the Royal parisii of Philippe II show, so that might add to the probability of them being contemporary. Now, Boudeau did not know about Gisors, so he did the logical thing and assigned the parisii to Robert de France, son of Louis VI and brother of Louis VII, so to the 1140s, contemporary to the ones minted by Louis in the eve of the Second Crusade. I think that without the hoard of Gisors, this identification would still hold water, although the stylistic aspects of the lettering also indicate a late to end of the 12th century rather than the 1140s. There is also another aspect, more administrative: Philippe II Augustus actively encouraged his kinfolk in center and northern France to follow his monetary type and its title in a bid to unify the coinage of the realms. This attempt went as far as to co-opt the coinage of Champagne, which although kept its design features, was accepted at a parity of 1 to 1 to the denier parisis starting with Thibaut IV, whenever he started minting, perhaps around 1210, due to a parity of weight and billon title, following the livre parisis. There were other realms who minted the denomination at around the same time, as part of this monetary policy supported by the King of France -- the County of Boulogne, the County of Vermandois, the County of Ponthieu for instance. In Abbeville Guillaume III Talvas de Belleme minted his parisii as Count of Ponthieu around 1191-1210/20(?), and here is another specimen from the hoard of Gisors: Guillaume III Talvas de Belleme as Count of Ponthieu (1191-1221) AR21mm, 0.55g, silver denier parisis, Abbeville mint, cca. 1191-1210. + WIIILEM COMES; PON / TIV in field in 2 lines + ABBATIS VILLE; cross with pellet in 1st and 4th quarters. Boudeau 1928, Poey d'Avant #6703 It's another rather scarce instance of a baronial parisis.
