Austrian Netherlands 1771(a) souverain d'or Fr-137
This specimen was lot 707 in Jean Elsen sale 158 (Brussels, March 2024), where it sold for €7,000 (about US$9,103 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRABANT, Duché, Marie-Thérèse (1740-1780), AV double souverain, 1771, Bruxelles. Troisième type. D/ B. voilé à d. R/ Ecu ovale d'Autriche-Bourgogne, couronné, sur une croix de Bourgogne. Très rare. Petit coup sur la poitrine. presque Superbe. (duchy of Brabant, Maria Theresia, 1740-80, gold double souverain of 1771, Brussels mint, third type. Obverse: veiled bust right; reverse: crowned oval arms of Austria-Burgundy over a Burgundian cross. Very rare, small nick on the breast, about Extremely Fine.)"
The souverain denomination was a holdover from Spanish rule in the seventeenth century and was struck until the collapse of the ancien regime. This style was struck 1767-72 and 1778-80 at Brussels. To mark the death of Francis I in 1765, the empress's bust was modified to show her in a veil. The Austrians lost Belgium to Revolutionary France in 1797.
Reported Mintage: 10,000.
Specification: 11.06 g, 0.919 fine gold, 0.326 troy oz AGW; this specimen 11,07 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-137, KM 25, W. 1137; Delm-216; VH 811.
- 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 158, Monnaies de la Principauté de Liège, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2024.
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