Plaque with armored bust - John I

John I of Lorraine ruled the duchy through the catastrophic years of the Black Death, which reached the region in 1348 — the same year this series begins. The plague so thoroughly disrupted trade and administration across Lorraine that maintaining consistent minting operations was itself a logistical achievement. His coinage drew heavily on French monetary conventions, reflecting decades of Capetian pressure on the duchy's political and economic autonomy.

The plaque denomination sits in a narrow window of Lotharingian silver issues that Saulcy documented with particular difficulty, noting inconsistent die workmanship across surviving specimens.