France, royal, Philip IV the Handsome, double parisis, 1295-1303

Obv. +PhILIPPVSREX; a cross fleuretté ended with crescents.

Rev. +MO\\[crescent]DVPLEX; in the field, fleur de lis and REGA / LIS

Silver, 1.07 g, 19.8 mm. Duplessy 227. Very Fine.

Philip IV the Handsome, as readers of Druon's The Accursed Kings know, is considered a great ruler by the French, although the rest of the world considers his murder of the Templars a grim crime. Similarly controversial was the monetary policy of the king, who undoubtedly set a good example of how to put an end to feudal anarchy in coinage, however, not in the interest of his subjects, but in the interest of the king's purse...