Austrian Netherlands 1758(a) souverain d'or Fr-134
This specimen was lot 1366 in Jean Elsen sale 115 (Brussels, December 2012) where it sold for €725 (about US$1,107 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRABANT, Duché, Marie-Thérèse (1740-1780), AV double souverain, 1758, Bruxelles. 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, 649. Très Beau/Superbe. (duchy of Brabant, Maria Theresia (1740-80), gold double souverain of 1758, Brussels 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 649. Very fine to extremely fine.)
The SCWC catalogs this as a souverain d'or, as is clear by the weight. The "(a)" in the page title refers to the angel face mintmark on the reverse, signifying Brussels; 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: 303,000.
Specification: 11.06 g, 0.919 fine gold; this specimen is 11.12 g.
Catalog reference: W., 1135; Delm-215; V.K., 10, Fr-134 (listed under Belgium), KM 24.
- 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]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 115: Collection Huntington, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils, S.A., 2012.
Link to:
- 1755 demi-souverain d'or, Antwerp mint
- 1756-W WI souverain d'or , Vienna mint
- 1758 half kronenthaler, Brussels mint, Francis I
- 1758 kronenthaler, Antwerp mint, Maria Theresia
- 1758 kronenthaler, Brussels mint, Francis I
- 1759 kronenthaler, Brussels mint
- 1762 souverain d'or, Brussels mint
- Coins and currency dated 1758
- return to coins of Austria, Austria-Netherlands