Medieval France Royal Coinage of Philip III, IV, and V (Fakes are possible) 1270 to 1322

Coin collectors usually designate major time periods to focus their interests. At least approximately, the periods are:

• Ancient coins: 500BC to 500AD
  
• Medieval coins: 500AD to 1600AD
  
• World coins: 1600AD to 1948AD
  
• Modern coins: 1948AD to Date
  

Brent has called our attention to a series of coins in the medieval period: French Royals. These are coins minted in medieval Europe to commemorate kings and queens. There is an intriguing summary from 793AD to 1793AD at this Eckerd site, as well as a summary from 1226AD to 1372AD at this Money Museum site. On these and related pages you can read about coins of kings with endearing names such as:

• John the Good
  
• Philip the Fair
  
• Philip the Bold
  
• Charles the Bald
  
• Charles the Wise
  
• Charles the Fool
  

Brent's inquiry asks about coins of Philip III, IV, and V who reigned from 1270AD to 1322AD. All these coins have patterns similar to that in our primary picture, which is a Philip IV (the Fair) coin from York Coins in Red Hook, New York, USA. York's coin is in beautiful shape and it sold recently for $400 US dollars retail. If York or another reputable dealer were buying such a coin, they would probably pay about $250 (possibly more) for it, reserving $150 mark up to keep the dealership solvent. Since this coin is in such beautiful condition, it would be relatively easy to sell to a knowledgeable collector.

If you look closely and squint, you can make out inscriptions on York's coin: PHILIPPVS REX and TVRONVS CIVIS. The denomination of this coin is a silver Gros Tournois a l'O rond (literally a big, round tournament).

As to value, each of these coins pretty much stands on its own merits. Unlike more modern issues, where special dates and selected mint marks affect the value of a coin big time, the values of these French Royals are dependent primarily on eye appeal, condition, and state of preservation. Of course the age of the coin is important as well. If you have one, you should seek out a knowledgeable collector or a coin dealer to get a first-hand, in-person appraisal. All we can do on CoinQuest is offer general guidelines as follows:

worn or damaged, but still legible, coins: $50 US dollars
average circulated: $200
well preserved: $600

As always with valuable coins, one must be on the lookout for counterfeits. It is not difficult for modern machining technique to mimic the result of medieval metallurgy. So counterfeit coins abound in the ancient and medieval coin markets. There is an extensive catalog of fake ancient coins at ForumAncientCoins.com.

The image below shows a side-by-sdie comparison of genuine and suspected counterfeit French Royal coins.


Comparing the two images, it is easy to see that the details of the design are different between the genuine and suspect specimens. But this is to be expected with medieval coins. Quality control back then is not what it is now! However, the overall appearance of the fake, its lack-luster surfaces, dis-proportionate formation of symbology, and mushy strike indicate that it is not genuine.
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