France, County of Nevers, Hervé IV of Donzy, Silver Denier

These silver deniers were minted under Hervé IV of Donzy, a prominent French nobleman who became Count of Nevers. Like many nobles of his generation, Hervé took part in the wider religious and military movements of the age, joining the Fifth Crusade and dying shortly after or during his return from the eastern Mediterranean.

The Fifth Crusade (1217 - 1221) was a papally directed effort that aimed to seize Egypt—the strategic center of Ayyubid power—as the key to restoring Christian control over Jerusalem. Crusader forces, including French nobles such as Hervé, successfully captured the Egyptian port city of Damietta after a lengthy siege but squandered the advantage through poor leadership, internal disagreements, and an overconfident advance toward Cairo that ended in disaster when the Nile’s floodwaters trapped their army. Forced to surrender Damietta, the crusaders returned home with little to show for the campaign, leaving the Holy Land’s balance of power largely unchanged and marking the expedition as one of the more costly failures of the medieval crusading movement.

The obverse of these coins bears the legend "COMЄS ЄRVЄVS" (Count Harvey), which surrounds a sickle and star. The reverse bears the legend "NIVЄRNIS CIVIT" (City of Nevers) around a cross.

Each includes a Certificate of Authenticity.