Eight Weeks Of Dated European Coinage (1234 To 1500 Ad)

@numisma, if you liked the design of the double briquets, you may also like the style of the briquets. Recall that in lieu of describing the denomination using words in the face of a mostly illiterate populace, the designer of these coins varied the number of lions on the obv design to indicated whether they were double briquets, briquets, or half briquets.

Here is a briquet from the Netherlands Duchy of Brabant. It is dated 1474 AD and is attributed as Levinson II-12. The obv inscription is KAROL DEI GRA DVX BG RAZ LI" while the rev inscription is BENEDIC HEREDITATI TVE A 1&^&. The lion on the obv is holding the shield of Burgundy.

Thank you for the information. I looked into the briquet coinage a bit, and I am intrigued. I see that other duchies and counties under the crown of Burgundy struck similar coins under Charles the Bold. It may be an interesting field to collect.

I have one question- since the briquet bears one lion and the double briquet has two, does a half briquet depict half a lion, or perhaps just the head?

Here is one of the first early dated European coins that I purchased. It is a Groschen of the German archbishopric of Trier. It is dated 1444 AD and was minted at Coblenz.

You'll notice some similarities of design between this coin and the previously-posted Groschen from Cologne. The key differences between these two pieces are the heraldic shields on the obv and rev, which even the most illiterate serf in the 1400s would have been able to identify. In this case, the primary shield on the obv is from Trier-Sierk, while the three secondary shields are Mainz, Cologne, and Palatine-Bavaria (obscured on this specimen). I'm pretty sure that the shield on the bottom of the rev is from Sierk, but please correct me if that is wrong. The obv inscription is MONE NOVA COVE and the rev inscription is A DN M C CCC XLIIII.

Here is another groshen of the same basic type as the two previous coins. This one is from the German Archbishopric of Cologne. It is dated 1447 AD and was minted in Riehl. The obv inscription is MONE NOVA RILE while the rev inscription is ADNI M CCCC XLVII. Other than the flan crack, this one is in better shape and still has pretty amazing detail. The attribution is Levinson I-81.

Originally, I had avoided posting all of these similar groschen, so folks wouldn't get too bored with the thread. Let me know if I should stop now...

What a fantastic thread Spence. Great examples and wonderful information given about each coin and region. Although I do not collect this area of coin, you have certainly presented enough information that I am curious to learn some more. Thank you for this great thread.

Here is another groshen from the German Archbishopric of Cologne. It is dated 1449 AD and was minted in Riehl. The obv inscription is MONE NOVA RILE while the rev inscription is ADN M C CCC XLIX. It has a bit of a wave in the flan which is readily visible in both of the pics. I even had a little trouble getting the focus right due to the non-flat nature of the coin. The attribution is Levinson I-87.

Some really nice coins showing up here, wish I had something to add.