HENRI IV LE GRAND, "L’affaire Biron"
1602 year| Silver | 5 g | 28 mm |
| Location | France |
|---|---|
| King | Henry IV (Henri IV) (1589-1610) |
| Type | Utility items › Counter tokens |
| Year | 1602 |
| Composition | Silver |
| Weight | 5 g |
| Diameter | 28 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
| Updated | 2024-11-13 |
| Numista | N#390619 |
|---|---|
| Rarity index | 100% |
Reverse
Right arm emerging from the clouds, armed with armband and gauntlet, and holding a sabre; in exergue: .1602...
Script: Latin
Lettering: LEX. VNIVERSI..
Edge
Plain
Comment
De Bie, p.282 and pl.94 n° LXVII describes the reverse of this token as follows
"The body is of an armed arm up to the gauntlet in hand, from which he holds a bare coustelas, the whole moving from a cloud, & as if in action of desseigning some heavy blow, to draw reason by arms from the pernicious plots of his enemies. Under the exergue MDCII. Mark of the time at which several great schemes against the Prince's State were as soon put off as put to rest, the terror of his arms frightening & containing in duty the rest of the Universe".
This token clearly relates to the Biron affair, named after Marshal Charles de Gontaut, Baron de Biron, Lieutenant General of the Royal Armies, Duke and Peer of France. He, along with Charles de Valois, Count of Auvergne and HENRI, Duke of Bouillon, conspired against the King with Duke Charles-Emmanuel I of Savoy and Philip III of Spain. Arrested, he was beheaded at the Bastille on July 31, 1602.
