CNG 91, Lot: 1250. Estimate $500. Sold for $1250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

FRANCE, Provincial. Besançon (libre ville imperiale). nomine Charles V. Holy Roman Emperor, 1500-1558. AR Demi Daldre (35mm, 14.09 g, 6h). Posthumous issue, dated 1642. Laureate, draped, and armored bust right / Eagle standing facing, head left, with wings spread, clutching pillars in claws. Duplessy, Féodales 3064; Poey d'Avant 5412 var. (date). Good VF, lightly toned. Rare.

Changing hands many times during its medieval history, Besançon fell under the control of the Duke of Burgundy following the division of Charlemagne’s empire in 843. Control of the city then passed on to the Holy Roman Empire in 1034, and it later became a prince-bishopric in 1184. Continued struggles with the Duke of Burgundy strained the rule of the Archbishop, with the former ultimately retaking the city during the 15th century. The marriage between Mary of Burgundy and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I placed control of Besançon back under the empire and now the Habsburgs. During the reign of Charles V, the city’s free imperial status was protected and, in recognition of this, her coinage continued to bear his portrait into the mid 17th century, long after his abdication and death.