FRANCE - CHARLES VI - ÉCU D’OR À LA COURONNE MIRABEL - MEDIEVAL HOARD - NGC MS61

Charles VI (1380-1422), écu d’or à la couronne, struck at Mirabel.

Obverse: crowned arms of France with three fleurs-de-lis. Legend +KAROLVS DEI GRACIA FRANCORVM REX. Reverse: foliate cross fleurdelisée, a star at the centre within a curved lozenge, the whole within a quatrefoil cantoned with four small crowns. Legend +XPC VINCIT XPC REGNAT XPC INPERAT. Mint of Mirabel.

Characteristic and carefully executed style, on a broad flan. Minute hairlines on the obverse. Light golden toning. Rare mint. Mint State.

From the Jean Vinchon sale of 9 December 1983, “Partie d’un trésor de monnaies en or du Moyen Âge”, lot 364. A sought-after pedigree.

Note: on 9 December 1983, the expert Jean Vinchon sold at auction part of a hoard of medieval gold coins. The écus of Charles VI from this find are sought after today for their documented provenance, rare for coins of this period. Introduced in 1385, the écu à la couronne was struck in pure gold during a reign marked by the king’s madness and the Hundred Years’ War. The secret marks introduced in 1389 to control the mints allow this example to be attributed to Mirabel, one of the Dauphiné mints, whose output remains rare.