Flanders 1694 patagon Dav-4500
This specimen was lot 1067 in Jean Elsen sale 159 (Brussels, June 2024), where it sold for €380 (about US$488 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"VLAANDEREN, Graafschap, Karel II (1665-1700), AR patagon, 1694, Brugge. Nieuw type. Vz/ Gekroond stokkenkruis met een vuurijzer tussen gekroonde letters C. Kz/ Gekroond wapenschild omringd door de keten van het Gulden Vlies. Deels zwak geslagen. Zeer Fraai. Uit verzameling A.M. Huntington, onze veiling 115, 8 december 2012, 1007. (county of Flanders, Charles II, 1665-1700, silver patagon of 1694, Bruges mint, new type. Obverse: Burgundian cross below a crown, bearing the jewel of the Golden Fleece; reverse: crowned arms, order chain around. Weakly struck in spots, very fine. ex-A. M. Huntington collection.)"
Patagons were issued in the Spanish Netherlands and associated states (including the bishopric of Liège and Franche Comte) during the seventeenth century, where they competed with French écus, German talers and Dutch daalders and ducatons. The type shown here was struck at the Bruges mint 1694, 1699 and 1700. A very similar coin was struck for Brabant. The SCWC notes the Flemish issues 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, altho this final issue was struck using the screw press. The feeble reign of Charles II, the last of the Spanish Hapsburgs, was a disaster for Belgium, as the region was repeatedly invaded and devastated by the armies of Louis XIV. The turmoil did not end with Charles' death, as the powers of Europe fought a fifteen year war over partitioning the Hapsburg empire. In 1714, Belgium passed to Austria to keep it out of the hands of the French.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 28.10 g, 0.875 fine silver; this specimen 28,10 g.
Catalog reference: KM 91, Dav-4500, G.H. 350-4b; Delm-351; VH 715.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1600-1700, Galesburg, IL, 1974.
- 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 159, Collection Harry Dewit, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2024.
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