(sold for $31.0)

1461, Royal France, Charles VII. Nice Silver Blanc (with Crowns) Coin. VF+

Mint Period: 1422-1461 References: Duplessy 519. Denomination: Blanc  à la couronne (Blanc with crowns) Condition: Minor greenish deposits in reverse, lightly cleaned (hairlines), otherwise VF+ Diameter: 27mm Weight: 2.64gm Material: Silver

Obverse: Royal shield of France (three lillies) within trilobe with crowns in inner fields. Legend:  + KAROLVS* FRANCORVM* REX

Reverse: Large  cross within quatrefoil. Two crowns and lillies in inner fields. Legend: + SIT* NOMEH* DNI* BEHEDICTVM

Although Charles VII's legacy is far overshadowed by the deeds and eventual martyrdom of Joan of Arc, he himself was also responsible for successes  unprecedented in the history of the Kingdom of France. When he died,  France was for the first time since the Carolingian Emperors united  under one ruler, and possessed its first standing army, which in time would yield the powerful gendarme cavalry companies, notable in the wars of the sixteenth century; he had also established the University of Poitiers in 1432, and his policies had brought some economic prosperity to his  subjects. His rule as a monarch had at times been marked by  indecisiveness and inaction, and his ending years marked by hostility  between himself and his elder son; nonetheless, it is to his credit  that he left his kingdom in condition better than he had found it.

Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious (French: le Victorieux) or the Well-Served (French: le Bien-Servi), was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent ruled much of France from Paris.

He was a member of the House of Valois, the son of Charles VI,  but his succession to the throne was left questionable by the English  occupation of northern France. He was, however, famously crowned in Reims in 1429 through the endeavors of Joan of Arc to free France from the English. His later reign was marked by struggles with his son, the eventual Louis XI.

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