In Béarnese, one sees the name secque (also seque and socques), as well as moneda and monederie, to designate the mint or monetary workshop.
[2] The Béarnese secque has the same meaning as zecca in Italian, and is most likely directly derived from the Arabic word sekkah (English: a die used to strike coins), because of the proximity to Spain.
They minted coins of differing values in the name of, and for the benefit of, the King of Navarre and Béarn, as well as medals and tokens.
Starting on 19 August 1494, the currency had one-to-one exchange rates with coins of the same value minted in the Kingdom of France.
At the time of its creation in 1351, Saint-Palais had a population of about 300 inhabitants, of which 100 worked at the mint (60 workers in the foundry to melt the metal into liquid and 40 striking silver écus bearing the effigies of Henry III of Navarre and of Louis II of Navarre; the last écus struck bore the effigy of Louis XIV of France.
In 1096, in the letters of Pope Urban II,[1] it is written that the church of Sainte-Foi of Morlaàs is situated in the County of Béarn, in a town called Furcas.
[2][8] In the early years, these were simple coins made from copper and bronze, but Gaston Phoebus later ordered that the mint in Morlaàs strike écus in gold and silver.
For this reason, in 1366 Charles the Bad, King of Navarre, who was seeking to give his florins the perfection of those of Aragon and of Florence, called upon Jean d'Estèbe, who was the head of the Mint of Morlaàs.
[2] In 1434, Jean de Foix-Grailly, Viscount of Béarn, appointed Peyroten d'Arblade, from Mont-de-Marsan, as Maître Particulier of the Mint of Morlaàs for two years.
)[2][12] Blanchet suspected that production was suspended at the Mint of Morlaàs was around 1619, due to the lack of evidence of any deliveries or shipments after this date.
[13] If production was suspended, it was short-lived, because a written decree dated 6 May 1637, issued on the advice of the officers of the mint, ordered that "baquettes" be produced in the Mint of Morlaàs "...up to a maximum value and quantity of 1,000 livres within a period of two weeks, explicitly requiring the officers, laborers and moneyers of the mint, to give the said "baquettes" in this vintage a distinct form, diameter and roundness so that they could be easily distinguished from counterfeits, and that to further ensure this, Messieurs Dupont, First President of the Chambre des Comptes, de Cachalon, Maître des Comptes, and the Prosecutor General, are required to be present during the new production, unless a bigger production run is otherwise ordered by the Chambre to meet to public needs.
[15] Their request was apparently not granted, because at the Assembly of Nobility of the Estates of Béarn in Nay on 10 September 1663, a new request was made that the Estates intercede with His Majesty, "...to obtain his decree that the Mint of Morlaàs be reopened, at least for the production of pieces of five and ten ardit[16] (one ardit was one-sixth of a sol, meaning 15 and 30 denier coins), that are necessary for usage by the public.
"[18] In the same register, in an entry dated May 11th of the same year, there is mention of a payment of 3 livres paid "...to the blacksmith of the 'monoje' for his time and the use of his horse to go and load a scale at the 'Monoje de Morlaas' (sic).
[20] After having rented the old Hôtel de la Monnaie of Morlaàs, the land on which it previously stood was sold at the end of the 18th century.
The Hôtel de la Baque evidently took its name from the coins of Morlaàs, engraved with the heraldic cows, the symbols of Béarn, commonly referred to as "baquettes" (i.e. "vachettes") at the time.
[24][26] In 1617, the Cours des Monnaies de France demanded that the three mints of Saint-Palais, Pau and Morlaàs be placed under its jurisdiction, but this reform was never carried out.
After Navarre and Béarn were joined in union with the Kingdom of France in 1620, certain officers exercised general functions for all three mints.
[30] In 1635, the King Louis XIII of France confirmed the letters of succession granted to the officers of the mints of Pau and Morlaàs in 1631.
[31] In his Monetary History of Béarn, Blanchet provided detailed, albeit incomplete, listings with references from the Departmental Archives of the Payrénées-Atlantiques, of the persons who held the various offices for the three mints in Saint-Palais,[32] Pau[33] and Morlaàs.
[35] These new counselors, like their counterparts at the Cour de la Monnaie, were responsible for the prevention of counterfeiting and unauthorized alterations of coins, working in parallel with the bailiwicks, seneschals, officers of the Présidial, and the gardes of the mints.
[84] The Maître Particulier (English: Individual Master) leased a mint or mints under a renewable six-year contract from the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre, later the Cour des Monnaies of the Parliament of Navarre and Béarn, and produced coins, medals and tokens under the license granted with this lease.
[99] Henry III of Navarre made a decree on 6 December 1590, ordering that no one could be hired as a garde without posting a bond of 1,000 écu sols.
[99] On 23 November 1606, fr:Maître Pierre de Day was hired as the first contre-garde, and because this office was new, the King fixed the remuneration at 125 livres, in other words, the same as for the gardes at the time.
This amount was to be taken out of funds of Chambre des Poids et Alois (English: Chamber of Weights and Values), after the remuneration of the other mint officers and all other expenses were paid.
[118] The contre-garde was an officer responsible for the inspection of the work in the monetary workshop and for keeping a register of the gold, silver and billon metals used in the production of coins.
[127] In 1723, the essayeurs were ordered to mark gold and silver bullion that were brought to them for testing with their unique stamps and to maintain individual registers.