Brabant (1507-20) 1/2 florin d'or Fr-55
This specimen was lot 609 in Jean Elsen sale 138 (Brussels, September 2018), where it sold for €1,800 (about US$2,498 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRABANT, Duché, Charles Quint (1506-1555), AV demi-florin au saint Philippe, s.d. (1507-1520), Anvers. E Latins. D/ Saint Philippe deb. de f., ten. devant lui l'écu couronné d'Autriche-Bourgogne. R/ Croix fleuronnée cantonnée de deux lis et de deux couronnes, un lion en coeur. Rare. Très Beau à Superbe. (duchy of Brabant, Charles V, 1506-55, undated gold half florin of St. Philip, Antwerp mint. Obverse: St. Philip facing, bearing the shield of Austria-Burgundy; reverse: floriated cross cantoned with two fleur-de-lys and two crowns with a lion at the center. Rare, very fine to extremely fine.)"
This coin is variously catalogued as a half goldgulden or a half florin and was nominally equal to half a ducat. It was issued during the reign of Charles V, who united the Burgundian, Austrian and Spanish inheritances.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.75 g, 0.986 fine gold; this specimen is 1,64 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-55; G.H. 170-1; Delm-95; W. 630.
- Delmonte, A., Le Bénélux D'or, Amsterdam: Jacques Schulman N.V., 1964, with supplements to 1977.
- 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.
- 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.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 138, Collection A. BLONDEL, Collection M. HENDRICKX, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils, S.A., 2018.
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