Beschreibung

Charles I. 1625-1649. Silver Jeton n. d. (1625), 4.02 g. Marriage of Charles I to Henrietta Maria. By P. Regnier. Busts face to face, celestial rays above. CH . MAG . ET . HEN . MA . BRIT . REX . ET . REG . Rv. Cupid walking, scattering roses and lilies, celestial rays above. FVNDIT . AMOR . LILIA . MIXTA . ROSIS . In exergue: 1625. Plain edge. 23.5 mm. Eimer 105Aa. MI i 238/1. Vorzüglich / Extremely Fine.

From the auction Spink USA 9800, New York, December 2001, lot 5.

The couple first met in 1623 at a court entertainment in Paris, while he was on his way to Spain with the Duke of Buckingham to discuss a possible marriage with Maria Anna of Spain, which failed for a variety of reasons.

Searching elsewhere for a bride, in 1624 Charles sent a close friend to Paris, who, a Francophile and a godson of Henry IV of France, strongly favoured a marriage with Henrietta Maria, the terms of which were negotiated by James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle. Henrietta Maria was aged fifteen at the time of her marriage, which was not unusual for royal princesses of the period.

There were more than one pair of dies used to strike these small medals, which were probably distributed in great profusion. The device of the reverse is an elegant allusion to the union of the lilies of France with the roses of England. The motto is modified from Virgil. Aen. xii. 68.