The Ancient Grimaldi Fiefs – Baux

Centre: the famous rock of Les Baux-de-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône) as it stands today, with the village in its setting. Along the upper rim: the issuing state "MONACO" before the lozenge shield to the right and the star of Les Baux to the left. Along the lower rim: the commemorative inscription "MARQUISAT DES BAUX" and the year "2025"; the mint marks of the Monnaie de Paris and Master Engraver Joaquin Jimenez appear along the left edge.

Les Baux-de-Provence forms one of the defining chapters of Grimaldi history. Before the family gained rule over the rock of Monaco in the 13th century, it was part of the far-reaching nobility network of Provence and connected to the powerful lords of Baux. The village of Les Baux, perched high on a limestone spur of the Alpilles in the Bouches-du-Rhône, was in the Middle Ages the centre of an important lordship that at times held sway over dozens of settlements. The lords of Baux traced their lineage back to the magus Balthazar and bore the Star of Bethlehem on their coat of arms — a display of self-confidence reflecting their far-reaching influence across southern France and beyond. That this territory belonged to the sphere of fiefs later passed to the Grimaldi line lends the place a special role in Monaco's princely memory.

Today, Les Baux-de-Provence is one of the most visited historic villages in France. The ruins of the medieval fortress crowning the plateau, together with the village below with its Renaissance façades, attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Culturally, the place stands for the courtly poetry of the troubadours, the flourishing of Provençal noble society, and the long shadow of the ecclesiastical schism that tore the region apart in the 14th and 15th centuries. With the coin issued in 2025, Monaco commemorates this ancient fief, drawing an explicit link between the principality and its medieval heritage in Provence.