Liard - Nicolas Gilley

Franquemont was a small barony in the Franche-Comté, and Nicolas Gilley's tenure as its lord placed him among the minor Burgundian nobility exercising the jealously guarded right of coinage that the Habsburgs were steadily eroding across the region in the mid-sixteenth century. This liard is one of several die varieties catalogued under Franquemon#3, distinguished by minor differences in the legend execution that reflect the irregular hand of a small local workshop rather than any imperial mint.

At 0.38g, this piece sits at the lighter end of surviving examples — billon coinage from minor baronies was subject to no rigorous weight enforcement.