Gelderland 1597 1/2 daalder
This specimen was lot 465 in Schulman auction 379 (Amsterdam, June 2024), where it sold for €200 (about US$257 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"GELDERLAND Provincie 1581 - 1795. 1/2 Leeuwendaalder. 1597 over 1593, Silver Type I, geslagen op de Hollandse voet. Ridder naar rechts achter Hollands wapenschild tussen jaartal MO. NO.ORDI. - .GEL. VA. HOL.. Kz. klimmende leeuw, daarboven mt ❀.Ons inzien is het onduidelijk of het jaartal daadwerkelijk als overslag zou moeten worden geinterpreteerd. RRR. Uiterst zeldzaam jaar. Iets aanslag. Vrijwel zeer fraai. V. –; de V. – (zie p. 26 en no. 109). (province of Gelderland, half lion daalder of 1597, type I, struck to the Holland standard, 1597/3 overdate. Obverse: knight facing right above the provincial arms divides the date; reverse: lion rampant, rosette mintmark above. We aren't sure about the overdate. Extremely rare date, some stains, about very fine.)"
The leeuwendaalder and its half are famous in the numismatic world as being some of the worst struck coins in history. Most of the provinces and several of the cities struck them from the 1570's until the end of the seventeenth century. This type was struck 1589, 1593, 1597-99, 1602 and undated.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 13.84 g, 0.750 fine silver, this specimen 13.07 g.
Catalog reference: Delm-868.
- 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]Absil, Eddy, Florentine van Hees, Tim Poelman, Catelijne van den Bosch, Evert Philippeau, Andrew Absil, Schulman sale 379, Amsterdam: Schulman b.v., 2024.
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