1/2 Groschen - René II

René II became Duke of Lorraine in 1473 after defeating and killing Charles the Bold of Burgundy at the Battle of Nancy in 1477 — one of the few territorial rulers to successfully resist Burgundian expansion by force. The half-groschen series issued across his reign reflects the duchy's position as a small but genuinely independent buffer state between France and the Holy Roman Empire, minting its own silver on terms answerable to neither.

Boudeau 1502 is among the more frequently encountered types of his coinage, though the long 35-year span makes die attribution uncertain without specialist reference.