3.81 gms. Fr-156; Delm-458; Demay-193. Louis II de Male was count of Flanders when that province was one of the richest regions of Europe. Nominally part of France, Louis refused to pay homage to either the king of France or the king of England, steering a neutral course during the Hundred Years War. It was then that this imitation of a French "franc à cheval" was struck. Later, he married his daughter to Philip, duke of Burgundy, uniting the two houses against the authority of the king of France. This specimen is a lovely gem, round and fully struck with complete rims, completely free of any planchet defects or traces of cleaning. Soft frosty luster and a wonderful example of medieval hammered gold. NGC MS-65.
