Austrian Netherlands 1751(l)R 1/2 souverain d'or Fr-236
This specimen was lot 1371 in Jean Elsen sale 115 (Brussels, December 2012) where it sold for €2,100 (about US$3,205 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"VLAANDEREN, Graafschap, Marie-Thérèse (1740-1780), AV souverain, 1751, Bruges. Droit: B. couronné à droite. Revers: Ecu échancré d'Autriche-Bourgogne, couronné, sur une croix de Bourgogne. Provient de notre vente 98, 13 décembre 2008, 1071. Extrêmement Rare. Fines griffes. Superbe à Fleur de Coin. (county of Flanders, Maria Theresia (1740-80), gold souverain of 1751, Bruges mint. Obverse: crowned bust to right; reverse: ornate crowned arms of Austria-Burgundy over a Burgundian cross. From our sale 98 (December 2008), lot 1071. Fine scratches, extremely fine to Uncirculated.)
The SCWC catalogs this as a half souverain d'or, as is clear by the weight. The "(l)" in the page title refers to the lion mintmark on the reverse, signifying Bruges; a hand was used for Antwerp. On the death of Charles VI in 1740, the redoubtable Maria Theresia was crowned Archduchess of Austria and queen of Hungary but, being a woman, could not be given the imperial crown. Therefore, after much debate and a war fomented by Frederick the Great of Prussia, her husband Francis of Lorraine was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1745.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 5.53 g, 0.919 fine gold; this specimen is 5.56 g.
Catalog reference: V.K., 30; Delm., -; Haeck, 846, Fr-236 (listed under Belgium), KM 14.
- Delmonte, A., Le Bénélux D'or, Amsterdam: Jacques Schulman N.V., 1964, with supplements to 1977.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Herinek, Gerhard, Austria Münzkatalog: Munzen ab 1745 und Banknoten ab 1759, 49. Auflage, Vienna: Christine Steyrer Verlag, 2022.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 115: Collection Huntington, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils, S.A., 2012.
Link to:
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- Austrian Netherlands 1751(h) 10 souverain d'or Fr-139
- 1752 demi-souverain d'or, Antwerp mint
- 1752 demi-souverain d'or, Bruges mint
- Coins and currency dated 1751
- return to coins of Austria, Austria-Netherlands