Austrian Netherlands 1781(a) souverain d'or Fr-141
This specimen was lot 700 in Jean Elsen sale 165 (Brussels, June 2026), where it sold for €4,400 (about US$6,059 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRABANT, Duché, Joseph II (1780-1790), AV double souverain, 1781, Bruxelles. Seulement 4.338 exemplaires frappés. D/ T. laurée à d. R/ Écu ovale couronné, sur une croix de Bourgogne, entouré du collier de la Toison d'or. Très rare. Griffes au droit sous le buste. Très Beau à Superbe. (duchy of Brabant, Joseph II, 1780-90, gold double soverain of 1781, Brussels mint. Only 4,338 pieces struck. Obverse: laureate head right; reverse: crowned oval arms over a Burgundian cross, order chain around. Very rare, scratches on the obverse under the bust, Very Fine - 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 1781-89. Similar souverains were struck at Vienna and elsewhere in the Hapsburg dominions. The Austrians lost Belgium to Revolutionary France in 1797.
Recorded mintage: 4,338.
Specification: 11.06 g, 0.919 fine gold, this specimen 11,04 g.
Catalog reference: KM 33, W. 1148; Delm. 219; VH 850.
- 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 165, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2026.
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