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What a beautiful coin! And yet King Philip the Sixth of France only had it minted to pay for his war against England. Such extravagance!

There were plenty of reasons for the outbreak of what later became known as the Hundred Years' War between France and England. Edward the Third of England had his eye on the French throne; on the other hand, Paris was laying claim to the English domains in Aquitaine, in the south-west of France. Both were also hoping to gain political influence in Flanders, which played a significant role in European commerce because of its cloth trade.

Even though a war was raging, the French rulers minted exceptionally handsome gold coins. One of them was the "pavillon d’or" on display here, issued in June 1339. It was given its name because the obverse shows the king seated on a throne in a pavilion lavishly decorated with fleurs-de-lis. The reverse bears a Latin circumscription which translates as:

Christ is victorious, Christ rules and Christ commands.

The fine weight of the "pavillon d’or" is very high. King Philip the Sixth of France had it issued at twenty different mints. Even his enemy, Edward the Third of England, was so taken with these gold coins that he had them minted in his own French territories with just a few changes.