Triton XVII, Lot: 1000. Estimate $2000. Sold for $2900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

FRANCE, Royal. Charles V le Sage (the Wise). 1364-1380. AV Franc à pied (28mm, 3.74 g, 1h). Uncertain provincial mint. Struck after 1368. KAROLVS DI GR FRANCORV REX (S retrograde), king standing facing within Gothic arch flanked by field of lis, holding sword and hand of justice; stops of five pellets / + XPC VINCIT XPC REGNAT XPC IMPERAT, cross with bars ending in three trefoils, angled quadrilobe in center with central pellet, lis and crown in opposite quarters; pellet in center, all within angled quadrilobe; lis in spandrels; rosette stops; annulet at end of legend. Duplessy 360A/360 (obv./rev.); Dieudonné 792; Ciani –; Friedberg 284. Good VF, lightly toned, strong strike. Rare and historically important.

Ex Classical Numismatic Group 70 (21 September 2005) lot 1154.

In 1356 French fortunes in the Hundred Years' War hit their nadir. The French king, Jean the Good, had been captured at Poitiers by Edward the Black Prince of Aquitaine. Negotiations concluded by Charles, the Dauphin, in 1360 saw a significant expansion of Edward's territory, although in return the English king Edward III promised to renounce his claim to the French throne. In any event the English prevaricated, never fulfilling their part of the agreement, and in 1368 Charles, now king, launched a new campaign against Aquitaine. By 1374 he had taken back all the lands that had been assigned to Aquitaine in 1360, and the Black Prince had departed, a broken man. The newly re-conquered land included the Anglo-Gallic mints of Limoges, Poitiers and La Rochelle, and issues of the franc à pied were struck at these mints, with appropriate mintmarks to distinguish them from the Paris issues. The present specimen is clearly not in the style of the Paris mint, and the annulet mark in the reverse legend most likely indicates a provincial issue. If not an official regal issue, may have been struck by one of the lesser French lords in the newly recovered province of Aquitaine.