Gros 'alerion' - Charles of Lorraine

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.