Antwerp 1593 5 patards
This specimen was lot 868 in Jean Elsen sale 164 (Brussels, March 2026), where it sold for €420 (about US$585 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRABANT, Duché, Philippe II (1555-1598), Cu méreau de 5 patards, 1593. Pour la solde de la garnison de la citadelle d'Anvers. D/ VIGILATE VIRTVTI A° 1593 Écu du colonel de Mondragon, commandant de la citadelle. R/ M P CO AL SOLD D LA CITT DANV A 5 PAT PIECE Vue de l'entrée de la citadelle. Très rare. Très Beau. (duchy of Brabant, Philip II, 1555-98, copper piece of five patards of 1593, to pay the garrison of the citadel of Antwerp. Obverse: arms of colonel Mondragon, commander of the citadel; reverse: view of the citadel gate. Very rare, Very Fine.)"
The circumstances of this obscure issue suggest siege coinage but we don't believe Antwerp was under attack in 1593, the Spanish having reconquered it in 1585. The Eighty Years War was still in progress but most of the action in 1593 was in Luxembourg and the north. This issue may be the equivalent of a canteen token.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: copper; this specimen 28 mm, 5,91 g.
Catalog reference: W. 346, fig. 40; Dugn. 3333; Mailliet p. 25, 1.
- van Gelder, H. Enno, and Marcel Hoc, Les Monnaies des pays-Bas Bourguignons et Espagnols, 1434-1713, Amsterdam, J. Schulman, 1960, with supplement of 1964.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 164: Monnaies du duché de Brabant et du royaume de Belgique, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2026.
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