FRANCE, Royal. Henri VI d'Angleterre, 1422-1453. Salut d'or (Gold, 24 mm, 3.47 g, 11 h), second issue. Paris, no date (6 September 1423). hЄИRICVS:DЄI:GRA:FRACORV:Z:AGLIЄ:RЄX The Annunciation: the Virgin, standing left, receiving tablet inscribed AVЄ from the Archangel Gabriel standing right; royal coats-of-arms of France and England before.
Rev. XPC'*VIИCIT*XPC'*RЄGИAT*XPC'*ImPЄRAT Latin cross with lis and leopard passant on either side, h below; all within decalobe, each point ending in lis. Duplessy 443A. Elias 270c. Friedberg 301. Poey d’Avant 3181. Minor edge clipping
, otherwise, extremely fine.
From an old British collection, acquired from Spink (with dealer's ticket).
The Anglo-British Saluts d'Or rank among the most splendid coins from the final phase of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). After the French kings Charles VI (1368-1422) and Charles VII (1403-1461) introduced these coins in 1421, modeled after the Neapolitan Salut d'Or of Charles I of Anjou (1227-1285), the English King Henry V (1386-1422) and his son Henry VI also adopted this popular coin, minting it in their continental mints in present-day France.
In the first issue of this type, ordered on 6 February 1423, the coin was valued at 25 Sous Tournois (with a weight of approximately 3.9 grams). However, barely seven months later, to address the numerous monetary manipulations by his adversary Charles VII, Henry VI had to lower the value of the Salut d'Or to 22 Sols and 6 Deniers, which corresponded to a reduced weight of approximately 3.5 grams per coin.
