Brabant 1555(h) couronne d'or Fr-62
This specimen was lot 472 in Jean Elsen sale 158 (Brussels, March 2024), where it sold for €725 (about US$943 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRABANT, Duché, Charles Quint (1506-1555), AV écu d'or au soleil, 1555, Anvers. D/ Ecu couronné d'Autriche-Bourgogne, accosté de deux briquets. R/ Croix fleurdelisée, cantonnée de deux aigles et de deux tours. Très Beau à Superbe. (duchy of Brabant, Charles V, 1506-55, gold écu of the sunburst of 1555, Antwerp mint. Obverse: crowned arms of Austria-Burgundy separates two firesteels; reverse: floriate cross cantonned with two eagles and two towers. Very Fine - Extremely Fine.)
Sous le règne de Charles Quint, cette monnaie, créée en 1540 et inspirée de l'écu au soleil de François Ier, est toujours appelée "écu d'or" dans les ordonnances. Le terme "couronne d'or" est postérieur. Il n'apparaît que sous le règne de Philippe II (G.H. 209). (Under the reign of Charles V, this coin, created in 1540 and inspired by the écu d'or of Francis I, is always called "gold shield" in the ordinances. The term "golden crown" is later, during the reign of Philip II.)"
Brabant, originally part of the Burgundian inheritance, fell to the Hapsburgs on the death of the last duke of Burgundy in 1477. On the emperor Charles's abdication in 1555, the Hapsburg inheritance was divided between the Austrian and Spanish branches, and the Netherlands passed to Philip II, a dour and unbending Catholic. The couronne d'or was issued from Antwerp and Maastricht in Brabant 1542-55, as well as Flanders, Holland, Gelderland and elsewhere. Couronnes d'or were struck again in the Spanish Netherlands about 1615-42 but by then the northern provinces had seceded.
Reported Mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold, this specimen 3,40 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-62, G.H. 186-1; Delm-102; W. 664; VH 223.
- 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 158, Monnaies de la Principauté de Liège, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2024.
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