Brabant (1374-77) tourelle
This specimen was lot 1249 in Jean Elsen sale 154 (Brussels, March 2023), where it sold for €320 (about US$414 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRABANT, Duché, Jeanne et Wenceslas (1355-1383), AR tourelle (schuerken), 1374-1377, Louvain. 1e émission. D/ MO-NETA NOVA- LOVANIEN' Ecu écartelé de Brabant, Limbourg et Luxembourg sommé d'un édifice à deux tourelles. R/ Croix fleuronnée. presque Très Beau. (duchy of Brabant, Jeanne and Wenceslas, 1355-1383, silver tourelle, 1374-77, Louvain mint, first emission. Obverse: quartered arms of Brabant, Limburg and Luxembourg surmounted by a building with two towers; reverse: floriate cross. About Very Fine.)"
With the weights of the minor coinage changing constantly, we're not sure if this was half a gros or a third. Jeanne (1322-1406) was duchess of Brabant from 1355. She married Wenceslas of Luxembourg in 1356 but the pair were ejected from Brabant by Louis II of Flanders. Wenceslas went off to fight his neighbors in Germany and Jeanne was eventually restored to Brabant. Louis' daughter Margaret married the duke of Burgundy. On Jeanne's death in 1406, the duchy passed to Margaret's son Antoine of Burgundy, uniting the provinces of Flanders and Brabant.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 1,12 g.
Catalog reference: Ghyssens p. 15, 7; W. 403.
- Roberts, James N., The Silver Coins of Medieval France (476-1610 AD), S. Salem, NY: Attic Books, 1996.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 154, Trouvaille de Labuissière, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2023.
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