Currencies/French gascon
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Introduction
The French Gascon was a regional coinage circulating in the historical province of Gascony in southwestern France during the Middle Ages. It represented a blend of French and English monetary influence, reflecting the duchy’s shifting allegiance during the Hundred Years’ War.
History
Between the 12th and 15th centuries, Gascony was alternately under French and English control. The English kings, as Dukes of Aquitaine, authorized the striking of local coins to facilitate trade within the duchy. During the 13th and 14th centuries, Gascon coins bore both French and Anglo-Gascon emblems, symbolizing the region’s political duality.
After 1453, following France’s victory at Castillon, Gascony was fully annexed, and its coinage system was absorbed into the broader French royal monetary structure, ending independent Gascon issues.
Coins
Gascon coinage was primarily composed of silver deniers, oboles, and small billon coins.
Obverse usually depicted a cross or ducal arms of Aquitaine.
Reverse contained mint marks or Latin inscriptions naming the duke or city of issue. Mints in Bordeaux, Bayonne, and Dax produced most of these coins. Their circulation extended along trade routes connecting southwestern France with the Atlantic ports and northern Spain.
Currency
The Gascon coin system operated alongside the livre tournois, but local silver content caused value fluctuations. Exchange rates often differed from those in Paris or Poitiers, reflecting regional autonomy in monetary policy during the late medieval period.
Legacy
The French Gascon coinage illustrates Gascony’s mixed identity — economically tied to France, yet politically linked to England for centuries. Although no longer in use after the 15th century, Gascon coins remain important to numismatists studying the evolution of feudal and provincial money in medieval France.