Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Double Tournois - Henri IV Montpellier mint
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1595 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Round |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Bare-headed bust of Henri IV facing right, rendered in a simple relief characteristic of hammered copper coinage of the period. The king is depicted with a short collar visible at the truncation. A mint mark appears in the lower field beneath the bust. The peripheral legend, separated by pellets or stops, reads HENRI IIII DE G FRN ET NA R, abbreviating his royal title as King of France and Navarre by the grace of God. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Three fleurs-de-lis arranged in a triangular grouping occupy the central field, serving as the heraldic emblem of the French royal house. The design is unencircled and presented in a plain field typical of Double Tournois copper coinage of the late sixteenth century. The surrounding circular legend reads DOVBLE TOVRNOIS followed by the date 1595, separated by stops or pellets. The overall composition is characteristic of the hammered coinage produced at the Montpellier mint under Henri IV. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Henri IV's early coinage is inseparable from the chaos of his consolidation of power. By 1595, he had formally declared war on Spain and was simultaneously buying the loyalty of Catholic League holdouts — the so-called politique settlements that bled the royal treasury. The Montpellier mint, operating under royal authority in a region that had been a Huguenot stronghold, resuming production under Henri's name was itself a political act.
The double tournois was the smallest practical copper denomination of the period, and Montpellier's output was modest relative to the northern mints at Paris and Rouen.