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Gold Double Helm - Philip the Bold
| Issuer | County of Flanders |
|---|---|
| Year | 1386-1387 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Two ornate crested helms face one another in the center of the field, the left helm surmounted by a fleur-de-lis crest and the right by a lion crest, each rendered in fine Gothic relief. Beneath the helms, two heraldic shields are displayed side by side: the dexter shield bears the quartered arms of Burgundy and Flanders, while the sinister shield displays the rampant lion of Flanders. A small mullet or star is visible in the central field between the shields. The entire composition is enclosed within a beaded inner circle, with the Latin titulary legend running continuously around the outer border, reading from a cross-pommee stop. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A large ornate floriated cross pattee occupies the central field, its arms terminating in trefoil fleurs, with a rosette at the center intersection. The cross is set within a cusped quadrilobe formed by four arched lobes, each lobe decorated with stylized foliage and small floral motifs in the spandrels, all executed in characteristic Gothic hammered style. The entire central device is enclosed within a beaded inner circle. The reverse legend, a devotional inscription in Latin, runs continuously around the outer border separated by lozenge-shaped stops. |
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| Additional information |
Philip the Bold struck the Double Helm during a period when Flemish monetary policy was being aggressively reshaped by Burgundian priorities. Having inherited Flanders through his wife Margaret in 1384, Philip moved quickly to assert fiscal control over a county whose commercial elite — particularly the Ghent merchant class — had long resisted outside monetary interference. This issue belongs to that consolidation effort.
The .979 fineness is notably high even by the standards of prestige Flemish gold, suggesting this was as much a statement of credit-worthiness to international traders as it was a circulating coin.