Gros with crown - Jean the Blind ND

Reverse

Châtel tournois furnished with a ring, under a crown. Surrounded by a border of 11 lilies encircled and framed by arches and a bohemian lion in the upper arch.

Script: Latin (uncial)

Lettering: ⁰ Bh'CИIORVm⁰

Lettering (regular font): ⁰ BH'CNIORVM⁰

Comment

Tournois gros, of the highest rarity, struck as of 18 September 1337 and minted in Luxembourg by the master Boniface Annelier.
Coin imitating the gros with the crown of Philip VI of Valois (1328 - 1350)

• A single copy listed in catalogs and books, currently kept in the Cabinet of Medals of the Museum of History and Art in Luxembourg.
  

• Three copies were offered at auction. Two have largely exceeded their estimate price, the last remains unsold.
  

Weight: All catalogs (Probst, Weiller, Bernays & Vannerus) indicate a weight of 1.68 g.
This very low value is due to the fact that all the authors are based on the piece preserved in the Luxembourg museum and that this one has a badly chipped blank. Weiller even speaks of fragment. The other three pieces mentioned above had a similar weight to French gros (1.9 g - 2.22 g - 2.42 g)

Variants: No variants listed for the same reasons as above. By comparing the copy kept at the museum to those offered in auction, several variants can nevertheless be identified. Differences in the cross, the castle, the border, as well as the legend and punctuation can be observed.


L#64-1, (left) has a ring in the castle L#64-1, (top) is with ring on the cross
and L#64-3, an extra annulus. under the castle. and L#64-3 has a cross on the arms without annulus.

Variants of legend and punctuation:

Obverse:
a. + Ih'S - LVn - GIS - REX (4) (cross with annelet)
b. + Ih'S - LVB - GIS - REX (2) (cross with annelet)
c. + Ih'S - L⁰VB - GIS - REX (3) (cross without annelet)

Reverse:
a. ⁰Bh'CИIORVm⁰ (annelet in the castle, border with a lion)
b. Bh'CИIORVm (annelet under the castle, border with a lily)

Interesting fact