Black Prince from the Strauss Collection

CNG 97, Lot: 1053. Estimate $10000. Sold for $12000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ANGLO-GALLIC. Edward the Black Prince. As Prince of Aquitaine, 1362-1372. AV Chaise d’or – Fort (28mm, 3.52 g, 9h). Bordeaux mint. Struck circa 1366-1368. + ЄD’· PO’· GnS · RЄGIS · AnGLIЄ · PnS · ΛQITΛnIЄ (rosette stops), full-length figure of Edward seated facing on ornate Gothic throne, holding scepter in right hand / + DЄVS · IVDЄX · IVSTVS · FORTIS · Z · PΛCIЄnS · B (rosette stops), cross collarino, with lions and lis in quarters, all within angled quadrilobe with quadrilobes in spandrels. Beresford-Jones, Anglo-Gallic 100/114; Elias 143; Elias Collection 241; Schneider 33; Poey d'Avant 2935. Good VF, soft strike on face, reverse slightly off center. Rare.

Ex Spink Numismatic Circular CVII.7 (September 1999), no. 3287; Strauss Collection (Sotheby’s, 26 May 1994), lot 151.

The chaise d'or is accounted the rarest of Edward's gold issues, and the only one that presents the prince as a peaceable ruler, bearing a sceptre rather than the ubiquitous sword. The reverse legend – “God is Judge, Righteous, Strong and Patient" is at odds with the typical motto of Edward's coins, which usually seeks God's protection for the ruler as he wages war against his enemies. The chaise was probably struck during the time when Edward hired himself out as a mercenary to help Pedro the Cruel of Spain regain his throne. Pedro failed to pay the Black Prince the promised money, and Edward's attempt to extract more funds from the French lords under his suzerainty brought about the resumption of the war between England and France. Edward's health broke under the stress of constant campaigning, and he abandoned his fief in 1371, predeceasing his father in 1376.