Austrian Netherlands 1762(a) souverain d'or Fr-134
This specimen was lot 3426 in Künker sale 294 (Osnabrück, Germany, July 2017), where it sold for €1,100 (about US$1,483 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"RÖMISCH-DEUTSCHES REICH, Maria Theresia, 1740-1780. 2 Souverain d'or 1762, Brüssel. GOLD. Sehr schön/sehr schön-vorzüglich. (duchy of Brabant, Maria Theresia, 1740-80, double souverain d'or of 1762, Brussels mint. Very fine or better.)"
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. This type was struck 1757-63 and 1766.
Recorded mintage: 269,000.
Specification: 11.06 g, 0.919 fine gold; this specimen is 11.08 g.
Catalog reference: Delm-215; Eypeltauer 409; Fr-134, KM 24.
- 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.
- 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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