Sale: CNG 64, Lot: 1671. Estimate $5000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 24 September 2003.  Sold For $9000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ANGLO-GALLIC. Edward the Black Prince. 1362-1372. AV Chaise d'Or (3.40 gm). Bordeaux mint. +ED• PO• GnS• REGIS• AnGLIE• PnS• AQITAnIE, Edward seated facing on throne holding sceptre; the throne decorated with arches (two to left, one to right) / +DEVS• IVDEX• IVSTVS• FORTIS• Z• PACIEnS B, cross collarino; lis and lions in angles, all within tressure. Elias 143a note (variations in the position of arches). Good VF. Very rare. ($5000)

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 between 1363, when Edward arrived in Bordeaux, and 1367, when he 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.