Catalog
Plaque - Charles IV
| Issuer | County of Luxembourg (under Charles IV) |
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| Year | 1346-1353 |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Obverse description | Central device comprising a large quartered heraldic shield surmounted by an open crown, the quarters displaying the arms of Bohemia (rampant lion) and the Empire, all set within a quadrilobe frame. The shield and quadrilobe occupy the majority of the field in a bold Gothic style typical of mid-14th-century Luxembourgian coinage. A circular outer legend in Gothic uncial script runs along the coin's periphery, separated from the central design by a beaded inner circle. The overall composition is characteristic of the high medieval plaque type, emphasizing dynastic heraldry. |
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| Reverse script | Latin (uncial) |
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| Additional information |
Charles IV issued this plaque while simultaneously pursuing the Bohemian, German, and eventually Imperial crowns — a political juggling act that made Luxembourg itself almost an afterthought administratively. The county's coinage in this period was shaped less by local economic need than by the demands of financing Charles's relentless campaigning across the Reich. His election as Holy Roman Emperor in 1346, the same year this type begins, was engineered partly by Pope Clement VI, who wanted Wittelsbach rival Louis IV removed.
Weiller's attribution places this firmly within the Luxembourg comital series before Charles elevated the county to a duchy in 1353 — the terminal date of this type's production.