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Gros 'alerion' - Charles of Lorraine
| Issuer | Verdun, Bishopric of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1619-1620 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Quartered heraldic shield surmounted by a bishop's mitre and displaying the combined arms of the Bishopric of Verdun and the House of Lorraine. The shield is divided into four quarters, incorporating the cross of Verdun and the bend of Lorraine, enclosed within a beaded inner circle. A circular Latin legend surrounds the shield reading ET · COMES · VIR · PRS · SRI · IMP · G, identifying Charles as Count of Verdun and Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. A mintmaster's initial or control mark appears in the lower field. The overall composition is characteristic of ecclesiastical coinage of the early seventeenth century. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Charles of Lorraine held the bishopric of Verdun from 1611 until his death in 1631, governing a see that had been under French royal protection since the Treaty of Verdun-Cateau in 1559 yet retained the right to strike its own coinage. This gros was produced in the narrow window of 1619–1620, a moment when the bishop's monetary authority was already being squeezed by Paris, and issues of this type were discontinued not long after. The alerion — the eagle without beak or talons from the arms of Lorraine — is the detail that places this squarely within the dynastic politics of the region rather than purely episcopal tradition.