Flanders 1600 silver florin
This specimen was lot 1267 in Jean Elsen sale 144 (Brussels, March 2020), where it sold for €1,300 (about US$1,713 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"VLAANDEREN, Graafschap, Albrecht en Isabella (1598-1621), AR gulden (florijn), 1600, Brugge. Vz/ Naar elkaar ziende borstbeelden van de aartshertogen. Kz/ Gekroond wapenschild omringd door de keten van het Gulden Vlies. Uiterst zeldzaam Gereinigd. Barstje. Zeer Fraai. (county of Flanders, Albert and Isabella, 1598-1621, silver florin of 1600, Bruges mint. Obverse: facing busts of the archdukes; reverse: crowned arms, Order of the Golden Fleece around. Very rare, mounted, planchet cracks, Very Fine.)"
Flanders, 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. His attempts to extirpate heresy caused the northern provinces to rise in revolt and, after many years of struggle, secure their independence as the United Provinces. The southern provinces, including Flanders, remained Catholic and loyal to king Philip. On his death, the Spanish Netherlands passed to his daughter Isabella and his nephew Albert, who ruled them with Spanish support until 1621. This florin was struck in Flanders and Brabant (KM 7.1). It coincidentally matches the weight of a Spanish silver four reales. The Antwerp mint in Brabant also struck half florins and double florins. All are rare.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 13.54 g, 0.833 fine silver, this specimen 13,16 g.
Catalog reference: KM 3, G.H. 287-6a; Delm-238; V.H. 586.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- 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 144, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2020.
Link to:
- Brabant 1600(h) 1/8 florin = stoter
- Flanders 1600 1/8 gulden = stoter
- Tournai 1600 huitième de florin d'argent (stoter)
- Brabant 1600 silver florin
- 1600 quadruple florin, Antwerp mint
- 1600 albertin d'or, Antwerp mint
- 1600 albertin d'or, Maastricht mint
- Brabant 1601 demi-florin (10 sols), Antwerp mint
- Tournai 1602 1/2 florin = 10 sols
- Coins and currency dated 1600
- return to coins of Netherlands, Spanish