Artois (15)98 1/2 ecu
This specimen was lot 731 in Jean Elsen sale 165 (Brussels, June 2026), where it sold for €300 (about US$413 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"ARTOIS, Comté, Philippe II (1555-1598), AR demi-écu Philippe, 1598, Arras. D/ B. cuir. à d. En dessous, rat et 98. R/ Écu couronné avec écusson de Portugal sur le tout, sur une croix de Bourgogne, entre deux briquets, portant le bijou de la Toison d'or. Extrêmement rare. Frappe faible. Beau à Très Beau. (county of Artois, Philip II, 1555-98, silver half écu Philippe of 1598, Arras mint. Obverse: armored bust right, rat mintmark and date below; reverse: crowned arms with the escutcheon of Portugal over a Burgundian cross between two firesteels supporting jewels of the Golden Fleece. Extremely rare, weakly struck, Fine - Very Fine.)"
This type, the last half écu struck for Philip II, is listed for 1586-92 and 1598. The Spanish lost Artois to the French in the 1640's and formally ceded it in 1659. Arras would become a French mint, retaining the rat mintmark.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 17.14 g, 0.833 fine silver, this specimen 13,93 g.
Catalog reference: G.H. 211-9d (unlisted date); Delm. 69 (unlisted date); Dewismes -; VH 365.
- 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 165, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2026.
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