2016-12-28 Wed

The 2016 Queen Matilda 200 Euro Gold Proof coin belongs to the “Women of France coin” series that honours great women in France’s culture and history. Matilda of Flanders (1031-1083) was the wife of William the Conqueror. She shaped the national policy at a time when women did not play important social and political roles.

Daughter of Baldwin V of Flanders and Adele of France, granddaughter of King Robert II of France, Matilda initially rejected Duke of Normandy’s marriage proposal but later the two married around 1050. Matilda served as Duchess of Normandy and helped finance many of William’s campaigns and even funded the construction of the battleship Mora. Following his conquest of England in 1066, William became the first Norman king, and Matilda was crowned queen. She reigned only for 20 years until her death in 1083 at the age of 51. It is believed that she commissioned the construction of the 230-foot-long Bayeux Tapestry that features several key events of the invasion of Normandy from 1064 through 1066.

The obverse features the crowned queen along with the inscriptions REINE MATHILDE ("Queen Matilda") and 1031-1083. The shape of the coin features imperfect edges that are created using the broad strike method to recreate medieval-era, hammered coinage.

The reverse depicts a Bayeux Tapestry scene of William the Conqueror in the Battle of Hastings of 14th October 1066. Other inscriptions include HASTINGS 1066, the coin's denomination, 2016, RF for Republique Française, a cornucopia which is the Monnaie de Paris mintmark and a small pentagon which is the trademark of French Mint Director Yves Sampo. The reverse fields have textured patterns like the ones from the Bayeux Tapestry.

The mintage limit of the 200 Euro.999 Gold 31.104 grams coin is 500.