Austrian Netherlands 1787-A 1/2 souverain d'or

Jean Elsen sale 112, lot 744

This specimen was lot 744 in Jean Elsen sale 112 (Brussels, March 2012) where it sold for € 340 (about US$531 including buyer's fee). The catalog description^[1] noted,

"BRABANT, Duché, Joseph II (1780-1790), AV souverain, 1787 A, Vienne. Type brabançon. Droit : Tête laurée à droite. Revers : Ecu ovale couronné, sur une croix de Bourgogne, entouré du collier de la Toison d'or. Très Beau. (Duchy of Brabant, Joseph II, 1780-90, gold soverain of 1787, Vienna mint, Burgundian type. Obverse: laureate head to right; reverse: crowned oval arms, Order of the Golden Fleece around. Very fine.)"

This type was struck in 1786-90 during the reign of Joseph II, the son of Maria Theresia. This type is listed under the Austrian Netherlands (modern Belgium) even tho this specimen was struck in Vienna (mintmark "A"). Others are known from Hall (mintmark "F") but none from Brussels. The design bears the Burgundian cross on the reverse, so perhaps that is why this coin is filed there. The lower, Catholic part of the Netherlands was Spanish until 1714, when it passed to the Austrians, who lost it to Revolutionary France in 1797. After the fall of Napoleon in 1815, Belgium passed to the king of the Netherlands.

Recorded mintage: unknown but not rare.

Specification: 5.53 g, 0.919 fine gold, .326 troy oz AGW, this specimen 5.55 g.

Catalog reference: Jaeckel, 45; Her., 102; Fr-444, KM 35.

Source:

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]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 112, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils, S.A., 2012.

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Austrian Netherlands 1787-A 1/2 souverain d'or

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