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Gold Ecu with sun - Charles VIII 2nd issue of Perpignan
| Issuer | France |
|---|---|
| Year | 1483-1493 |
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| Value | 1 Gold Ecu |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field features the crowned royal arms of France, displaying three fleurs-de-lis arranged two-over-one on a plain shield, surmounted by an elaborate Gothic crown with fleurons and jewelled arches rendered in fine relief. The shield is set within a beaded inner circle, with the surrounding legend in Gothic uncial characters running clockwise along the outer border. The overall design is characteristic of late Valois hammered gold coinage, with bold, well-defined heraldic elements typical of the Perpignan mint issue. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | CAROLVS FRAnCORVm DEI GRACI RX (Translation: Charles, by God`s grace, king of the Franks.) |
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| Additional information |
Perpignan sat inside the Crown of Aragon's territories until Louis XI effectively purchased Roussillon and Cerdagne from a financially desperate Juan II of Aragon in 1463 — a transaction never fully accepted by the local population or by Spain. Charles VIII inherited this contested enclave and, under pressure to fund his Italian ambitions, ultimately ceded both counties back to Ferdinand of Aragon by the Treaty of Barcelona in 1493, trading territorial legitimacy for a free hand to march on Naples. This coin was struck entirely within that window of uneasy French administration.
The Perpignan mint's output under Charles remains thin in surviving examples, and the LP reference gap noted in the catalog is telling.