1946 AD., Luxembourg, Charlotte (1919-1964), 600th anniversary - death of John the Blind commemorative, 50 Francs, KM 48.

Luxembourg, Charlotte (1919-1964), 600th anniversary - death of John the Blind commemorative, engraver: Armand Bonnetain, 1946 AD.,
50 Francs (ø 31 mm / 12,78 g), 0.835 silver, 12,50 g. theor. mint weight, mintage 100.000 , axes coin alignment ↑↓ (180°), reeded edge,
Obv.: PRENZ· JEAN· VU· LETZEBURG / A. B. / · 50 F. · , his head facing left, engraver´s initials at truncation, shields of arms flanking below, the left one crowned, the right helmeted.
Rev.: · JANG· DE· BLANNEN· / SERVIAM / 26-VIII- / 1346 - 1946 A. B. , helmeted knight wearing suit of armour galloping right, sword in his raised right hand, shield on left arm, engraver´s initials r. below.
KM 48 .

Year / Mintage
no date (1946) 100,000
no date (1946) 100 (proof issue)

John the Blind (Luxembourgish: Jang de Blannen; German: Johann der Blinde von Luxemburg; Czech: Jan Lucemburský) (10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346) was the Count of Luxembourg from 1309 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of Poland. He was the eldest son of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII and his wife Margaret of Brabant. He is well known for having died while fighting in the Battle of Crécy at age 50, after having been blind for a decade. Before he died in battle, he was reported to have said: "Let it never be the case that a Bohemian king runs [from a fight]!"
The Battle of Crécy (occasionally written in English as the "Battle of Cressy") took place on 26 August 1346 near Crécy in northern France. It was one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years' War because of the combination of new weapons and tactics used. John lost his eyesight at age 39 or 40 from ophthalmia in 1336, while crusading in Lithuania. A treatment by the famous physician Guy de Chauliac had no positive effects. At the outbreak of the Hundred Years' War in 1337 he allied with King Philip VI of France and even was governor of Languedoc from 30 November 1338 to November 1340. At the Battle of Crécy in 1346 John controlled Phillip's advanced guard along with controlling the large contingents of Charles II of Alençon and Louis I, Count of Flanders. John was killed at age 50 while fighting against the English during the battle. After the battle, legend states that John's personal crest (a pair of black wings) and motto Ich dien ("I Serve", Latin: "serviam") were adopted in slightly modified form by Edward, the Black Prince, and since then they have been part of the badge of the Prince of Wales.

The body of John the Blind was moved to Kloster Altmünster ("Old-Minster Abbey") in Luxembourg. When the abbey was destroyed in 1543 the corpse was moved to Kloster Neumünster ("New-Minster Abbey") in Luxembourg. During the confusion of the French Revolution the mortal remains were salvaged by the Boch industrialist family (founders of Villeroy & Boch, ennobled in 1892) and hidden in an attic room in Mettlach on the Saar River. The legend has it that the monks of the abbey asked Pierre-Joseph Boch for this favor.
His son Jean-François Boch met with Prince Frederick William of Prussia on his voyage through the Rhineland in 1833 offering the remains as a gift. As Prince Frederick considered John the Blind to be one of his ancestors he ordered Karl Friedrich Schinkel to construct a funeral chapel. The chapel was built in 1834 and 1835 near Kastel-Staadt on a rock above the town. In 1838 on the anniversary of his death John the Blind was laid in a black marble Sarcophagus in a public ceremony.

In 1945 the Luxembourg government took the chance to obtain possession of the bones. In a cloak and dagger operation the remains were moved to the crypt of the Notre-Dame Cathedral, Luxembourg.