Austrian Netherlands 1759(a) souverain d'or Fr-134
This specimen was lot 1112 in Jean Elsen sale 164 (Brussels, March 2026), where it sold for €1,300 (about US$1,810 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRABANT, Duché, Marie-Thérèse (1740-1780), AV double souverain, 1759, Bruxelles. D/ B. couronné à d. R/ Écu ovale d'Autriche-Bourgogne, couronné, sur une croix de Bourgogne. Beau à Très Beau. (duchy of Brabant, Maria Theresia, 1740-80, gold double sovereign of 1759, Brussels mint. Obverse: crowned bust to right; reverse: oval crowned arms of Austria-Burgundy over a Burgundian cross. Fine - Very 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: 190,106.
Specification: 11.06 g, 0.919 fine gold, 28 mm diameter, engraved by Jacques Roëttiers; this specimen 11,03 g.
Catalog reference: KM 24, W. 1135; Delm. 215; VH 808.
- 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 164: Monnaies du duché de Brabant et du royaume de Belgique, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2026.
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