Austrian Netherlands 1784(a) kronenthaler Dav-1284
This specimen was lot 1420 in Jean Elsen sale 115 (Brussels, December 2012) where it sold for €100 (about US$153 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRABANT, Duché, Joseph II (1780-1790), AR couronne, 1784, Bruxelles. Droit: Tête laurée à droite. Revers: Croix de Bourgogne entre trois couronnes, ornée du bijou de la Toison d'or. Traces d'ajustage. Très Beau à Superbe. (duchy of Brabant, Joseph II (1780-90), silver crown of 1784, Brussels mint. Obverse: laureate bust to right; reverse: Burgundian cross between three crowns and jewels of the Order. Adjustment marks, very fine to extremely fine.)"
This type was struck in 1781-90 during the reign of Joseph II, reforming son of Maria Theresia. It replaced the Maria Theresia's kronenthaler (Dav-1282) with a more conventional portrait type. This date was also struck at Vienna (mintmark "A"); the Vienna and Brussels issue are about equally common. The Austrians lost Belgium to Revolutionary France in 1797. After the fall of Napoleon in 1815, Belgium passed to the king of the Netherlands.
Recorded mintage: 928,000.
Specification: 29.44 g, 0.873 fine silver; this specimen is 29.51 g.
Catalog reference: W., 1149; Delm-393, Dav-1284, KM 32.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1700-1800, 2nd Ed., London: Spink & Son, 1964.
- 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.
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