France. Aquitaine. Duchy of Aquitaine. Edward the Black Prince, 1362-1372. Hardi. (Billon, 18.5 mm, 0.93 g). La Rochelle, R in the obverse legend. + ED: PO: GnS REG: AGLIE Bust of the prince facing under a canopy, holding a sword in his right hand and raising his left hand. Rev. five-petal rose PRn EPS rose R AQIT AnIE Cross cutting the legend, flanked on the 1st and 4th by a lily, on the 2nd and 3rd by a leopard. Bd. cf.513. PA. 3052. E. 206a. Elias 314. A fine specimen, although the cross on the reverse appears as a negative on the obverse. Slight indentation at 5 o'clock. Very Fine. Ex Verret Collection, with its original label written with pen. Ex CGF, 26th July 1999, lot 924. Hardi was created relatively late, according to Elias, around 1368. The Silver Hardi was created at the same time as the Golden Hardi and must have been struck at the same time as the second issue of the “demi-gros” and the “esterlin” d'Aquitaine. The town of La Rochelle was ceded to the English under the Brétigny Peace Treaty, ratified in Calais on 24 October 1360. Between 23 January and 7 April 1361, the city's mint quickly struck gold leopards in the name of Edward III. Edward the Black Prince (1330-1376) was the eldest son of Edward III Plantagenet and Philippa of Hainaut. He took up arms for the first time at the Battle of Crecy in 1346, where he was greatly impressed by the chivalrous attitude of John the Blind, King of Bohemia, who preferred to die rather than suffer the shame of defeat. His heraldic arms will be ostrich feathers, which the King of Bohemia already wore. Edward the Black Prince was in Aquitaine in 1355 and began a campaign in Poitou the following year. He crushed the French at Poitiers and took King John the Good prisoner. The Treaty of Bretigny in May 1360 confirmed the independence of Aquitaine. Edward became its first prince in 1362. He arrived in Bordeaux in 1363. War with France resumed in 1369. After the first English defeats in Aquitaine, the Black Prince returned to England in 1371 and the following year renounced his principality. He died in 1376. His father Edward III died the following year. Richard II, son of the Black Prince, ascended the throne.