Austrian Netherlands 1755(h) 1/2 souverain d'or Fr-135
This specimen was lot 3425 in Künker sale 294 (Osnabrück, Germany, July 2017), where it sold for €455 (about US$613 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"RÖMISCH-DEUTSCHES REICH, Maria Theresia, 1740-1780. Souverain d'or 1755, Antwerpen. GOLD. Sehr schön. (duchy of Brabant, Maria Theresia, 1740-80, souverain d'or of 1755, Antwerp mint. Very 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 wrangling and a war fomented by Frederick the Great of Prussia, her husband Francis of Lorraine was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1745.
Recorded mintage: 227,000.
Specification: 5.53 g, 0.919 fine gold; this specimen is 5.52 g.
Catalog reference: Delm-212; Eypeltauer 413; Fr-135, KM 17.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Künker Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Katalog 294: Goldprägungen | Deutsche Münzen ab 1871 | Russische Münzen und Medaillen, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2017.
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