Groschen - Charles IV and Nicole

Charles IV became Duke of Lorraine in 1624 at age sixteen following the abdication of his father François, but the duchy's legal situation was complicated: his rule required nominal joint exercise with his wife Nicole, who held the hereditary claim to Lorraine through her own dynastic line. These groschen reflect that constitutional arrangement directly — Nicole's inclusion on the coinage was not ceremonial but a political necessity imposed by the estates of Lorraine, who recognized her as the legitimate heir. The marriage itself had been engineered specifically to preserve the duchy's independence from French absorption.