Austrian Netherlands 1793 14 liards
This specimen was lot 33335 in Heritage sale 3076 (Long Beach, CA, September 2019), where it sold for $336. The catalog description[1] noted, "Austrian Netherlands: Franz II 14 Liards (14 Oorden) 1793-(b) MS65 PCGS, Brussels mint. Remarkably sharp for this usually heavily circulated type, every detail of the design exquisitely bold, and a soft golden tone pervading throughout." This denomination, which doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the coinage of the Austrian Netherlands, was struck 1755-94. This type, struck in the name of emperor Francis II, was issued 1792-94. Four liards = one sol, 54 sols = one kronenthaler. The area, Spanish until 1714, then Austrian by the Treaty of Utrecht, fell to France in 1795 and was held by them until the fall of Napoleon in 1815. It was merged with the United Provinces to form the kingdom of the Netherlands but the region, being Catholic, wanted no part of the Protestant Dutch. Hence, it was split off in 1830 to form the kingdom of Belgium.
Recorded mintage: 642,000.
Specification: 0.583 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM 59.
- [1]Bierrenbach, Cristiano and Warren Tucker, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3076, featuring the Allen Moretti Swiss Collection and the James Mossman Collection of Canadian Coinage, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2019.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
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