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25 Sols Siege of Aire
| Issuer | Aire-sur-la-Lys, City under siege of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1710 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Central field features a round heraldic shield bearing the arms of the Seigneur de Goesbriand, governor of Aire during the siege, divided horizontally with horizontal lines in the upper and lower portions and a granulated band across the center. The shield is surmounted by an open noble crown rendered in relief. The date 1710 appears in the lower field below the shield. A circular Latin legend runs continuously around the periphery of the octagonal flan, separated from the central device by the coin's edge. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Aire-sur-la-Lys was besieged by Marlborough's forces in the summer of 1710, and like many beleaguered French towns of the War of the Spanish Succession, the city administration authorized emergency coinage when conventional supply lines collapsed. These obsidional pieces were struck from whatever silver could be requisitioned locally — plate, ecclesiastical objects, and private holdings pressed into service by military necessity. The weight standard was approximated rather than guaranteed, which explains the variation collectors encounter across surviving examples.
Boudeau 1995 is among the scarcer siege issues of this conflict. Aire fell to the Allies in November 1710 after a siege of roughly six weeks.