Brabant (1466-67) mite
This specimen was lot 579 in Jean Elsen sale 157 (Brussels, December 2023), where it sold for €300 (about US$387 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRABANT, Duché, Philippe le Bon (1430-1467), billon mite de Brabant, 1466-1467, Louvain. Avec la légende débutant à 7h au revers. D/ Ecu de Bourgogne. R/ + MOI-ETA N-OVA L-OVAE Croix pattée coupant la légende, chargée de l'écu de Louvain. Rare. Très Beau. (duchy of Brabant, Philip the Good, 1433-67, billon mite of Brabant, 1466-67, Louvain mint, with the legend starting at 7 o'clock on the reverse. Obverse: arms of Burgundy; reverse: cross pattée dividing the legend, charged with the arms of Louvain. Rare, Very Fine.)"
Louvain was the capital of Brabant during Burgundian times; later, the administrative center was moved to Brussels. Roberts comments, "The mite of Flanders was valued at 1/24 gros or 1/8 of an English penny.... The mite of Brabant was valued at only 1/36 gros, making its 4-mite piece 1/3 of a penny."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: billon, this specimen 1,02 g.
Catalog reference: G.H. 20-1b var.; W. 496 var.; V.H. 28 var.
- Roberts, James N., The Silver Coins of Medieval France (476-1610 AD), S. Salem, NY: Attic Books, 1996.
- van Gelder, H. Enno, and Marcel Hoc, Les Monnaies des pays-Bas Bourguignons et Espagnols, 1434-1713, Amsterdam, J. Schulman, 1960, with supplement of 1964.
- van der Wis, Jan, and Tom Passon, Catalogus van de Nederlandse Munten geslagen sind bet aantreden van Philips II tot aan het einde van de Bataafse Republiek (1555-1806), 2nd ed., Apeldoorn, Netherlands: Omni-Trading b.v., 2009.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 157, Collection J.-C. Martiny, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2023.
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