Flanders 1650 1/2 ducaton
This specimen was lot 1372 in Jean Elsen sale 153 (Brussels, December 2022), where it sold for €260 (about US$329 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"VLAANDEREN, Graafschap, Philips IV (1621-1665), AR halve dukaton, 1650, Brugge. Tweede type. Vz/ Geharnarst bb. r. Kz/ Gekroond wapenschild gesteund door twee leeuwen. Onderaan het juweel van het Gulden Vlies. Zeer zeldzaam. Vermoedelijk uit een wrak. bijna Zeer Fraai. (county of Flanders, Philip IV, 1621-65, silver half ducaton of 1650, Bruges mint, second type. Obverse: armored bust right; reverse: crowned arms supported by two lions, the jewel of the Golden Fleece below. Very rare, porous obverse, about Very Fine.)"
Ducatons were issued in the Spanish Netherlands and associated states (including the bishopric of Liège and Franche Comte) during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, where they competed with French écus, German talers and Dutch daalders and patagons. Fractional ducatons are much less frequently encountered. The type shown here was struck at the Bruges mint 1637-39, 1644, 1652-54, 1660-62 for Philip IV of Spain (this example is from an unlisted date). The SCWC notes the Flemish ducatons as the most common, followed by the Brabant issue, tho none are plentiful today. The series is plagued by bad planchets and poor strikes, reducing their appeal to collectors.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 16.24 g, 0.944 fine silver; this specimen is 15,08 g.
Catalog reference: KM 49 (unlisted date), G.H., Suppl., 328-6b; Delm-290; V.H. 643.
- 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 153, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2022.
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