Flanders 1672 1/2 ducaton
This specimen was lot 718 in Jean Elsen sale 141 (Brussels, June 2019), where it sold for €220 (about US$292 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"VLAANDEREN, Graafschap, Karel II (1665-1700), AR halve dukaton, 1672, Brugge. Eerste type. Vz/ Bb. r. als kind. Kz/ Gekroond wapenschild gesteund door twee leeuwen. Onderaan het juweel van het Gulden Vlies. Zeer zeldzaam Dubbelslag. Zeer Fraai. (county of Flanders, Charles II, 1665-1700, silver half ducaton of 1672, Bruges mint, first type. Obverse: child bust right; reverse: crowned arms supported by two lions with the jewels of the Order of the Golden Fleece. 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. The half ducaton shown here was struck at the Bruges mint 1667-73. The SCWC prices the Brussels issues about double the Bruges issue. 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 16,19 g.
Catalog reference: KM 67 (unlisted date), G.H. 349-4a (unlisted date); Delm-330; V.H. 693.
- 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 141, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils, S.A., 2019.
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