Wow, @panzerman. Just to stay in practice, I looked at my v. 1 of Duplessy, Royales. Looking a lot like No. 252, Chas. VI, issued 1340, not too long before Crécy. One really fun thing is that a lot of these particularly elaborate motifs from the 14th-century gold coins show up on jetons --apparently, for the most part, from the following century. Here are a couple I have pics of --both from UK detectorists on ebay.
Its a collectors dream when hoards of MS gold coins are found and are placed in auctions. In this one/ there are over 20 AV Mouton d'ors from Jean le Bon alone. I remember, when we still had in person coin club meetings/ one guy gave a presentation of medieval coinage/ basically telling us that these coins are boring/ not worth collecting. Next meeting I brought in 5 AV coins from the Burgundy region/ I think I changed some minds.
Bravo!!! ...At my end of the spectrum, running more to deniers that have a way of looking suspiciously alike, I think you have to simply acknowledge that the historical contexts have to be one of the most compelling factors. If you're not invested, or at least interested in the history, you won't 'get it.' But to restate your point about the esthetics, most obviously from the 14th century (more selectively the 13th), with the larger modules in both metals, and designs to match, everything changes.
Some guy must have taken his share from the mint before they went into circulation John this is a 'golden' opportunity to get to your magic number
I will have to see if I have success at Sincona first. I am hopeing to get two from Pontivy Treasure hoard.
It seems to me that the auction of this magnificent treasure went very well. As it was not explicitly stated in the catalogue, it should be pointed out that the "Trésor de la région de Pontivy" is the "Trésor de Neulliac" published by A. Clairand in Trésors monétaires, XXII, Trésors de l'Ouest de la France, Paris, BnF, 2005, pp. 253-267.
