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 - John IV SIGNVM DEI VIVI
| Issuer | Duchy of Brittany |
|---|---|
| Year | 1351-1361 |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A cross pattée or cross with decorative terminals occupies the central field, rendered in bold relief against a plain background. The cross is enclosed within a circular inner border, with the surrounding field bearing the Latin devotional legend. Depending on the variety, punctuation marks and annelet stops vary in placement around the legend. The design is typical of the double tournois series, echoing the Capetian cross reverse tradition adapted for Breton feudal coinage. The strike is characteristically uneven, with some flatness at the periphery due to the hammered production technique. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
| 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 |
John IV of Brittany — better known as Jean de Montfort — struck this coin during the protracted struggle for the duchy known as the War of Breton Succession, a conflict that drew in both the English and French crowns and dragged on for over two decades. His right to mint was itself a contested political act; the rival Blois claimants had French backing, while John held an English alliance sealed at the Treaty of Malestroit. Coinage was as much a claim to legitimacy as a medium of exchange.
The SIGNVM DEI VIVI inscription sets this type apart from the bulk of Breton feudal issues of the period.