Sterling - Guy of Dampierre Bust, SIGNVM CRVCIS

Guy of Dampierre struck these sterlings during one of the most politically precarious moments of his long reign. By 1297 he had formally renounced his fealty to Philip IV of France and allied with Edward I of England — a gamble that would ultimately cost him his freedom. Philip's forces invaded Flanders in 1300, and Guy surrendered the following year, spending the remainder of his life as a French prisoner. These coins were produced in that narrow window of defiant independence, which accounts for their relative scarcity.