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Blanc - Jean II
| Issuer | France |
|---|---|
| Year | 1353-1354 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 3.765 g |
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| Obverse description | Central cross pattee set within a double inner circle, with the arms of the cross nearly reaching the inner ring. The inner legend reads + IOHANNES x REX, identifying King John II of France, while the outer legend carries the devotional inscription + BNDICTV : SIT : NOMEN : DNI : NRI (Blessed be the name of our Lord). The overall design is characteristic of mid-14th century French hammered billon coinage, with the legends separated by beaded circles. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Jean II struck this blanc in the immediate aftermath of the Black Death, which had killed roughly a third of France's population by 1351 and left the royal treasury gutted. His reign compounded the disaster — captured by Edward the Black Prince at Poitiers in 1356, he would spend years as a prisoner in England while France ransomed him for three million écus d'or. The monetary system he presided over was correspondingly chaotic, with billon issues debased and revalued repeatedly as the crown scrambled for revenue.
Dy 298 places this emission within a narrow two-year window before the fiscal crisis deepened further.