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20 Sols Siege Coinage
| Issuer | Lille, City under siege of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1708 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 7.27 g |
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| Obverse description | Central roundel bearing the arms of the city of Lille — a field strewn with fleurs-de-lis — surmounted by a municipal crown. Four crossed cannon barrels radiate diagonally from behind the shield, their muzzles extending toward the coin's periphery. Decorative foliate and floral garlands fill the quadrants between the cannon barrels, lending a heraldic formality to the martial composition. The entire design is contained within a milled border, struck in high relief on a plain copper flan typical of wartime emergency issues. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Lille fell to Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy in October 1708 after one of the most technically demanding sieges of the War of the Spanish Succession. The city's commandant, Boufflers, authorized emergency coinage from whatever metal was available — church bells, copper fittings, confiscated goods — to pay the garrison during the four-month blockade. These pieces were struck under fire, in a city that had already consumed its food reserves and was negotiating surrender terms by the time the last coins left the dies.