Document sans-titre

FRENCH COIN COLLECTING ?

Renaissance coins

At the end of the 100-years' war, another Revolution, this time psychological, took shape in the south, 'the Renaissance'. It was to spread rapidly throughout France, for the north of Italy was often the stage for wars with France during the reign of Louis XII and François I.

Gold Henri struck in 1550 at Villeneuve Saint-André les Avignon (MONNAIES V. 1156). This example illustrates the cover of FRANCIAE IV Sold at : 26 900 FRF

Teston struck at the Moulin, by Henri II (MONNAIES V. 1160) Sold at : 3 800 FRF

The most important discovery of the Renaissance was that civilisations are not everlasting. In discovering the remains of the Roman world, through the ruins of monuments and of sculptures, through the texts preserved by the Church, men of the 15th century came to understand that a more brilliant civilisation than their own had ended a long time before. If this civilisation could come to an end, why not their own ? For what reason could our civilisations die ?

These people of the 15th century discovered Time. In the world they knew, time was cyclical : the King is dead ! Long live the King ! They discovered that they themselves were not immortal and that Time was limited.

In Numismatics, this was translated by the appearance of dates on coins and above all by the appearance of the number of the king. It would now seem logical to us that an English coin should bear the inscription Elizabeth II but this has not always been the case : all the coins that existed throughout the one thousand, five hundred years of the History of France, bear the inscriptions : 'PHILIPPUS REX', 'HENRICUS REX', or 'IOHANNES DEI GRACIA FRANCORUM', (John, King of the Francs by the grace of God) , without ever specifying if the Philippe, Henri or Jean in question was I, II, III…

The first French coin to testify to this psychological revolution is a gold Ecu struck in Provence, near Italy, by Louis XII where for the first time, his name is written, 'LVDOVICVS XII'. This gold Ecu is to be found for sale every two or three years for about four thousand francs (eight hundred dollars).

The recommended books to read for this period are again those by Jean Duplessy, " Monnaies Royales Françaises " , Tome I, and " Monnaies Féodales Françaises ". There is no complete reference collection, except at the National French Library (BnF) for type coins.

A Teston fom the 'Dauphine' region, struck by François I Estimated at : 4 500 FRF.

A further effect of the Renaissance and of the development of Art was the appearance of portraits on coins. They were gradually more and more refined, the kings choosing the best engravers of their country to execute their portraits, both for reasons of prestige and for reasons of security, to protect themselves against fraud.

A Half-franc of Henri III, King of France and of Poland, struck in 1587, in Paris Estimated at 1900 FRF.

A Teston of Charles IX struck in 1563 Estimated at 1500 FRF.

The period from François I to Louis XIII was to be riddled by wars of religion. The old idea of one king, one faith was shattered by the Protestants, who, while they recognised themselves to be the loyal subjects of the King of France, didn't want to practise his religion. It would be more than a century before an end was put to the civil wars which brought about the exile of many French protestants to Germany, Switzerland, America and South Africa.

Numismatics of this period is all the more complicated due to the fact that very few coin-collectors are interested in it, the reference book on this period 'FRANCIAE IV' by Stéphan Sombard having only just come out. The prices of these coins are very low in view of their rarity, their interest and their historical importance.

For example, a coin of a very rare type, a gold Henri struck in a very rare mint and the only known example, in VG 30 condition, sold for only ten thousand francs (two thousand dollars). Combined silver and brass coins, struck by the Protestants in revolt, can be found for less than three hundred francs (fifty dollars). These wars, which were at least as bloody as the war of Secession, in the United States, witnessed towns captured and recaptured, mints changed. The war, being the cause of their emigration meant that Protestants were more numerous than Catholics in the United States.