Seiseno - Louis XIV

Girona struck these copper seisens in 1646 under French royal authority during the Catalan Revolt — the Guerra dels Segadors — when Catalonia had placed itself under the protection of Louis XIII and then Louis XIV following the rupture with Madrid in 1640. Municipal coinages of this kind were a practical necessity: Castilian currency was politically toxic, and French royal supplies were unreliable this far south. The city mint operated under explicit license from the French crown, making these among the very few municipally-issued Catalan coppers to carry Bourbon authority rather than that of the Generalitat.