FRANCE, Provincial. Arles (archbishophric). Guillaume de la Garde. 1361-1374. AV Franc à pied (28 mm, 3.63 g, 10h). Struck after 1365. EF.

Triton XXVI
Lot: 1027. Estimated: $ 75 000

World, Coin-in-Hand Video, Gold

Sold For $ 50 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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FRANCE, Provincial. Arles (archbishophric). Guillaume de la Garde. 1361-1374. AV Franc à pied (28 mm, 3.63 g, 10h). Struck after 1365. GVILLS’· DЄI · GRΛ · PRC · ΛRЄLΛTЄn ·, crowned figure standing facing within Gothic arch; semé of seven lis to left and right, holding sword, and fleur-tipped scepter / + XPIC * VInCIT * XPIC * RЄGnΛT * XPC * INPЄRΛT (mullet stops), cross tréflée; in center of cross, pellet within angled quadrilobe; lis in first and fourth quarters, crown in second and third; all within angled quadrilobe; lis in spandrels. Duplessy, Féodales 1752; Poey d'Avant 1858; Friedberg 25; “Monnaie inédite des archevêques d’Arles,” in Bulletin de la Société Archéologique de Tarn-et-Garrone tome I, no. 1 (July 1869) p. 25-6 = A. Longpérier, “Franc d’or de Guillaume d’Arles,” in RN (1869), p. 273-4; Catalogue de monnaies Françaises trouvaille faite le 6 Juin 1882, rue Vieille-du-Temple, 26 et 28, (Paris 1882), p. 21 = E. Caron, Monnaies féodales françaises, (Paris 1882), 405 var. (legends). Lustrous. EF. Of considerable historical interest and among the rarest gold coins in the French medieval series.

Guillaume de la Garde (c. 1325-1374), was a significant figure in the history of Provence in the mid fourteenth century. During this period the Papacy was based in Avignon and Guillaume, who was born into a powerful local family, progressed rapidly through the hierarchy of the Church, rising to become the Archbishop of Arles and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. It was as Archbishop that Guillaume crowned the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV, as King of Arles in 1365. Shortly afterwards he changed his allegiance and supported Louis I of Anjou, brother of the French king Charles V, who claimed the kingdom by right of his descent from Louis IX (Saint Louis) and Marguerite of Provence.

During this turbulent time, it would appear that Guillaume struck a very small gold coinage in his own name. The type adopted was inspired by the franc à pied, a coin issued in vast numbers by Charles V of France from 1364 onwards in his drive to stabilise the currency after numerous debasements during the Hundred Years War, see lots 1016-1018. Elements of the design were altered from the Royal prototype, for example, the sceptre tip and the crown worn by the Archbishop. Interestingly Guillaume adopts the title Prince of Arles. It is unclear in what capacity he could claim this title. He may simply have been copying his neighbour Raymond IV of Orange who also styled himself Prince on the larger emission of gold franc à pieds he made around this time.

We can trace only three other examples of the Franc à Pied of Guillaume de la Garde: that described by Poey d’Avant, now in the Bibliotheque National, an example published in 1869 and now in the collection of the Cabinet des Monnaies in Marsielle, and an example of a different variety found in the 1882 Rue Vieille-du-Temple Hoard.

The final winners of all Triton XXVI lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 10-11 January 2023.

Triton XXVI – Session Four – Lots 991-1315 will be held Wednesday afternoon, 11 January 2023 beginning at 2:00 PM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

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