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Gold Écu - Philip the Bold
| Issuer | County of Flanders |
|---|---|
| Year | 1384-1404 |
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| Composition | Gold |
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| Obverse description | Philip the Bold depicted enthroned facing, crowned and robed, holding a sceptre in his right hand and an orb in his left, set within an elaborate Gothic architectural canopy of pinnacles and tracery. The Flemish lion appears at lower right within the canopy setting, and a mint mark is visible at the base below the throne. The entire design is executed in the refined Gothic style characteristic of late 14th-century Flemish coinage. The circular Latin legend, rendered in uncial characters, reads: PHILIPPVS DEI GRA COM Z DNS FLAND, separated by rosette stops, and runs between a beaded inner circle and a plain outer rim. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | ✠ PHILIPPVS ⁑ DEI GRA COM ⁑ Z ⁑ DNS ⁑ FLAND |
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| Additional information |
Philip the Bold acquired Flanders through his marriage to Margaret III in 1369, but only began issuing coins in his own name as Count following her death in 1384 — which is precisely why this écu's date range opens there. The design closely followed French royal monetary conventions, a deliberate political signal that Burgundian Flanders was aligning its monetary identity with the French crown rather than its mercantile Flemish neighbors.
The Flemish cloth trade kept enormous quantities of gold in circulation throughout this period, and Burgundian mints competed aggressively with English nobles and Florentine florins for dominance in commercial exchange.