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1/4 Groschen - Charles III 14th type

Issuer Duchy of Savoy
Year 1504-1553
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Currency Livre
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Reverse description The reverse displays a floriated cross composed of four ornate, symmetrically arranged knot-like or rose motifs at the terminals and centre, forming a decorative quartered pattern typical of Savoyard billon coinage of the early sixteenth century. The design is enclosed within a plain inner circle. A continuous Latin legend in Gothic characters encircles the entire device, separated by punctuation stops. The flan is irregular and slightly concave, consistent with hand-hammered production.
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Reverse lettering KBLASY • ET • AVGVSTE • S • R • IMP • PR FERT
(Translation: ... Kablasy and prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Through unity and religion we are bind.)
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Additional information

Charles III ruled Savoy for nearly half a century but spent much of that reign politically paralyzed — caught between the competing pressures of Francis I of France and the Habsburg Emperor Charles V, he lost control of most of his territory to French occupation by 1536 and never recovered it during his lifetime. Coinage continued to be struck in his name throughout this period, though effective ducal authority had largely collapsed. The billon quarter groschen served the small-change needs of a polity that existed more on paper than on the ground.

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