Franche Comte 1599 2 denier
This specimen was lot 1379 in Jean Elsen sale 154 (Brussels, March 2023), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANCHE-COMTE, Philippe II (1556-1598), Cu double denier, 1599, Dole. Frappe posthume. D/ B. cour. à g. R/ Lion deb. dans un champ semé de billettes. Beau/Très Beau. (free county of Burgundy, Philip II, 1556-98, copper double denier of 1599, Dole mint, posthumous strike. Obverse: crowned bust left; reverse: lion rampant left in a field of billets. Fine/Very Fine.)"
Altho Franche Comte is today a region of France to the east of Burgundy, in the sixteenth century it was firmly part of the Holy Roman Empire and was ruled by the Spanish branch of the Hapsburgs in the person of Philip II. Long coveted by the French kings, the county finally fell to Louis XIV in the late 1670's and incorporated into the royal domain. Besançon, the capital, became the site of a French mint (mintmark "CC").
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: copper, this specimen 2,81 g.
Catalog reference: Dole R22; V.H. 355.
- 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 154, Trouvaille de Labuissière, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2023.
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