Austrian Netherlands 1751(h) ducaton

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Jean Elsen sale 156, lot 960

This specimen was lot 960 in Jean Elsen sale 156 (Brussels, September 2023), where it sold for €5,500 (about US$7,057 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,

"BRABANT, Duché, François Ier (1745-1765), AR 9 escalins d'argent (ducaton), s.d. (1751), Anvers (J. Roettiers). Tranche cordée. D/ B. l., dr. et cuir. de François de Lorraine à d. R/ B. dr. et cuir. de Marie-Thérèse à d. Extrêmement rare. Légèrement nettoyé. Traces d'ajustage. Très Beau. (duchy of Brabant, Francis I, 1745-65, undated silver nine escalins or ducaton, Antwerp mint, dies by J. Roettiers, reeded edge. Obverse: laureate, draped and armored bust of Francis of Lorraine right; reverse: draped and armored bust of Maria Theresia right. Extremely rare, lightly cleaned, traces of adjustment marks, Very Fine.)

Dès 1750, la Cour de Vienne émit le souhait de faire frapper dans les Pays-Bas autrichiens des monnaies à l'effigie de François Ier, "ce qu'on n'osa pas exécuter trop ouvertement, apparemment à cause que l'Empereur n'étoit pas souverain de ce pays et qu'au surplus, on craignoit l'opposition des états du Brabant". On frappa cependant en 1751 des pièces de "cinq doubles souverains en or et des pièces de neuf escalins en argent, partie aux deux bustes de Leurs Majestés l'Empereur et l'Impératrice et partie au seul buste de S.M. l'Empereur et pour le revers les armes impériales en plein" (Mémoire de la Jointe des Monnaies, 9 janvier 1774). Très peu d'exemplaires furent frappés et ils ne furent pas mis en circulation. Ce n'est qu'en 1755, suite à une nouvelle injonction venue d'Autriche, que des couronnes et demi-couronnes furent frappées au titre de François Ier, ce qui suscita de nouvelles protestations des Etats de Brabant car l'empereur n'était pas le souverain du pays mais son co-régent. (As early as 1750, the Court of Vienna expressed the wish to have coins bearing the effigy of Francis I struck in the Austrian Netherlands, "which they did not dare to carry out too openly, apparently because the Emperor was not sovereign of this country and what's more, we feared opposition from the states of Brabant". However, in 1751, coins of "five double sovereigns in gold and coins of nine escalins in silver were struck, part with the two busts of Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress and part with the single bust of H.M. the Emperor and on the reverse the imperial arms in full" (Memoir of the Joint Mint, January 9, 1774). Very few examples were minted and they were not put into circulation. It was only in 1755, following a new injunction from Austria, that crowns and half-crowns were struck in honor of Francis I, which aroused new protests from the States of Brabant because the emperor was not the sovereign of the province but its co-regent.)"

This rare pattern is not listed in the SCWC or Davenport. It is, in fact, dated 1751 next to the hand mintmark for Antwerp.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 33.25 g, silver, this specimen is 30,60 g.

Catalog reference: W. p. 293, fig. 46 var.; de Witte, RBN (1897), p. 61, pl. IV, 1; Delm-391a; Eypeltauer 528; V.H. 846.

Source:

  • [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 156, Collection de Monnaies de la Principauté de Liège, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2023.

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