Catalog
Tournois Gros - Charles IV
| Issuer | County of Luxembourg |
|---|---|
| Year | 1348-1353 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Reverse description | Central field features a plain Greek cross pattee set within a raised beaded inner circle, following the established Tournois Gros typology derived from the French gros tournois. An interior circular legend surrounds the cross within the beaded border, reading + MOИETA LVCEBVRGC, identifying the currency of Luxembourg. An exterior legend in Gothic uncial script carries the Christological acclamation + XPC VInCIT XPC REGИAT XPC IИPERAT, separated by pellet stops. The overall design closely emulates the French royal gros tournois, adapted to the authority of Charles IV as Count of Luxembourg. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Charles IV issued this gros from Luxembourg while simultaneously maneuvering toward the Bohemian crown and, ultimately, his election as Holy Roman Emperor in 1355. The tournois type — borrowed directly from the French royal gros tournois tradition established under Louis IX — was by this period a deliberate political signal, aligning Luxembourg's monetary identity with western European prestige coinage rather than imperial German models. Charles understood currency as diplomacy.
The five-year window of this issue brackets the Black Death's peak devastation across the Low Countries, a period that collapsed trade networks and sharply reduced the velocity of silver coinage in regional circulation.