Austrian Netherlands 1753(h) 1/2 souverain d'or Fr-135
The first specimen was lot 1371 in Jean Elsen sale 115 (Brussels, December 2012) where it sold for €600 (about US$916 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRABANT, Duché, Marie-Thérèse (1740-1780), AV souverain, 1753, Anvers. Deuxième type. Droit: B. couronné à droite. Revers: Ecu ovale d'Autriche-Bourgogne, couronné, sur une croix de Bourgogne. Provient de notre vente 103, 12 décembre 2009, 646. presque Superbe. (duchy of Brabant, Maria Theresia (1740-80), gold souverain of 1753, Antwerp mint, second type. Obverse: crowned bust to right; reverse: oval crowned arms of Austria-Burgundy over a Burgundian cross. From our sale 103 (December 2009), lot 646. Nearly extremely fine.)
The second specimen was lot 995 in Jean Elsen sale 135 (Brussels, December 2017), where it sold for €1,100 (about US$1,524 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[2] noted,
"BRABANT, Duché, Marie-Thérèse (1740-1780), AV souverain, 1753, Anvers. Deuxième type. D/ B. couronné à d. R/ Ecu ovale d'Autriche-Bourgogne, couronné, sur une croix de Bourgogne. presque Superbe. (duchy of Brabant, Maria Theresia, 1740-80, gold souverain of 1753, Antwerp mint, second type. Obverse: crowned bust to right; reverse: crowned oval arms of Austria-Burgundy over a Burgundian cross. About extremely fine.)"
The SCWC catalogs this as a half souverain d'or, as is clear by the weight. The "(h)" in the page title refers to the hand mintmark on the reverse, signifying Antwerp; a lion was used for Bruges. 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: 317,000.
Specification: 5.53 g, 0.919 fine gold; both specimens 5.55 g.
Catalog reference: W., 1115; Delm-212; V.K., 32, Fr-135 (listed under Belgium), KM 17.
- Delmonte, A., Le Bénélux D'or, Amsterdam: Jacques Schulman N.V., 1964, with supplements to 1977.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- 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.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 115: Collection Huntington, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils, S.A., 2012.
- [2]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 135, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils, S.A., 2017.
Link to:
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- 1752 demi-souverain d'or, Bruges mint
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- 1753 kwart dukaton, Bruges mint
- 1753 demi-ducaton, Antwerp mint
- 1753 ducaton, Antwerp mint
- 1754 demi-souverain d'or, Antwerp mint
- Coins and currency dated 1753
- return to coins of Austria, Austria-Netherlands