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!
Patagon - Charles I
| Issuer | Arches-Charleville, Principality of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1627 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Patagon (12⁄5) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| 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 features a large, ornate heraldic shield composed of four quartered arms, each quarter bearing a distinctive device including crossed keys and fleurs-de-lis, surmounted by a royal crown and flanked by additional crowned shields at the cardinal points. Supporting elements include lions and decorative mantling. The circular legend reads CAROL. GONZ. DUX. NIVERN. ET. RET., referring to Charles de Gonzague, Duke of Nevers and Rethel, rendered in raised Latin characters separated by pellets. The overall design reflects the Baroque heraldic style typical of early seventeenth-century Spanish Netherlands coinage. |
|---|---|
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | 1627 |
| Additional information |
Arches-Charleville was a tiny sovereign principality wedged between the Spanish Netherlands and the French border, ruled in the early seventeenth century by Charles de Gonzague, Duke of Nevers, who had acquired the territory and its minting rights through inheritance. His decision to strike patagons — the heavy silver trade coins then dominating commerce across the Spanish Netherlands — was a calculated assertion of those rights rather than a response to any genuine monetary need. The principality's output was minuscule compared to the great mints at Antwerp or Brussels.
KM#1 for this issuer is the sole recorded type, which itself speaks to how briefly and narrowly the mint operated.