This gold coin is one of the most beautiful medieval coins in our collections. It is extremely rare: there are only three other known copies, kept in the coins and medals collections of Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

The gold noble was a typical currency during the Hundred Years War, a French-English conflict between 1337 and 1457. The iconography of the prototype of this piece, struck in England between 1344 and 1470, symbolizes the claims of English sovereigns over the kingdom of France: the English arms on the shield combine English lions with French fleur-de-lis. On the reverse, the legend Iesus (autem) transiens per medium, from the Gospel of Luke (4:30), evokes the maritime power of the English and their well-established commercial relations, notably with Flanders. Starting in the mid-14th century, the noble was one of the first English coins to be produced in large quantities.

The noble was a large coin that circulated widely on the continent, and it was often imitated by various other rulers.

This coin of Walerand of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny and Saint-Pol, faithfully imitates the English coins issued between 1361 and 1369, but with a modified legend. With different letters and abbreviations, it was easy in quick and distracted reading to confuse this coin with another coin minted by Edward III, King of England. Walerand of Luxembourg was a mercenary warlord whose services were often sought during this period. He was an ally of the Duke of Burgundy, and he held highly prestigious offices as a result of this friendship: Captain General of Picardy, Governor of Genoa, Grand Master of Waters and Forests, Grand Bottler of France and finally Constable of France, in 1411.

Starting with Walerand I, second son of Henry V the Blondell, the Luxembourgs had settled in the seigniory of Ligny.