Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Liard of Dauphine - Charles VIII dolphin on obverse
| Issuer | Dauphiné of Viennois |
|---|---|
| Year | 1483-1498 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 0.78 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Central field displays a stylized dolphin in profile, rendered in the late Gothic manner characteristic of Dauphine coinage, with a trident or sceptre rising above the creature. The dolphin, emblem of the Dauphin of Viennois, occupies the majority of the inner circle, its body curving naturally within the beaded inner border. The surrounding legend reads KAROLVS FRAnCOR REX in uncial Latin characters, identifying Charles VIII as King of the Franks. The flan is irregular in shape, as typical of hammered medieval billon coinage, with portions of the legend partially visible near the rim. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Romans-sur-Isère, France (1192-1554) |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Charles VIII inherited the Dauphiné not as king but as its traditional lord — every French heir apparent held the title of Dauphin of Viennois from 1349 onward, when the province was sold to the French crown by Humbert II under the condition that the eldest son of the king always bear the title. When Charles ascended the throne in 1483 at age thirteen, the Dauphiné retained its own mint rights and monetary identity, producing billon issues distinct from royal French coinage even as the political separation between the two was becoming increasingly nominal.
The low silver fineness places this squarely in the petty coinage category — workhorse money for local markets, not prestige issue.