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1/2 Groat 'Braspenning' - John the Fearless
| Issuer | Flanders, County of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1409-1416 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 1.3 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin (uncial) |
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| Reverse description | Central design featuring a plain long cross with expanded terminals dividing the field into four quarters, each canton containing a single heraldic charge: a lion passant in the upper-left quarter, a fleur-de-lis in the upper-right quarter, a lion passant in the lower-left quarter, and a fleur-de-lis in the lower-right quarter, alternating in a quartered arrangement. The cross and charges are enclosed within a beaded inner circle. The outer field carries a continuous Gothic uncial circumferential legend proclaiming the coin as new coinage of the County of Flanders, separated by ornamental stops. The strike is typical of early fifteenth-century Flemish hammered silver production. |
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| Additional information |
John the Fearless inherited Flanders from his father Philip the Bold in 1404 and immediately faced the competing monetary pressures of financing his Burgundian ambitions while managing the heavily commercialized Flemish economy, which demanded reliable small silver for textile trade settlements. The braspenning — literally "brass penny," a name that stuck despite the silver composition — occupied the lowest tier of the Flemish silver coinage and circulated hard through market towns like Ghent and Bruges.
John was assassinated on the bridge at Montereau in 1419, and this type did not survive him long as a current denomination.