Gelderland 1564 1/5 daalder
This specimen was lot 2086 in Jean Elsen sale 158 (Brussels, March 2024), where it sold for €85 (about US$111 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"NEDERLAND, GELDERLAND, Hertogdom, Philips II (1555-1592), AR vijfde Philipsdaalder, 1564, Nijmegen. Vz/ Geharnast bb. r. Kz/ Gekroond wapenschild op een Bourgondisch kruis tussen twee vuurijzers. Krasjes. Lichte dubbelslag. Zeer Fraai à Prachtig. (Netherlands, province of Gelderland, Philip II, 1555-92, silver fifth daalder of 1564, Nijmegen mint. Obverse: armored bust right; reverse: crowned arms over a Burgundian cross between two firesteels. Scratches, lightly double struck, Very Fine - Extremely Fine.)"
The Philip II depicted here is Philip II of Spain (1556-98), who lost control of Gelderland in the 1580's when the Protestant inhabitants successfully rebelled against his attempts to reimpose Catholicism. In the southern Netherlands (Brabant and Luxembourg), this coin was called the cinquième d'écu. This type represents a very early experiment with decimal coinage, over a century before Russia adopted her hundred kopeks = one ruble.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 6,72 g.
Catalog reference: G.H. 212-6d.
- van der Wis, Jan, and Tom Passon, Catalogus van de Nederlandse Munten geslagen sind bet aantreden van Philips II tot aan het einde van de Bataafse Republiek (1555-1806), 2nd ed., Apeldoorn, Netherlands: Omni-Trading b.v., 2009.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 158, Monnaies de la Principauté de Liège, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2024.
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