Holland (1378) goldgulden Fr-105
This specimen was lot 1348 in Künker sale 352 (Osnabrück, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €3,200 (about US$4,454 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"NIEDERLANDE, HOLLAND. Grafschaft. Wilhelm V. von Bayern, 1350-1389. Goldgulden (Florin d'or) o. J. (1378). GOLD. Fast vorzüglich. (Netherlands, county of Holland, William V of Bavaria, 1350-89, undated goldgulden. About extremely fine.)"
In the early fifteenth century, the Netherlands was still an empty wasteland with only a shadow of her future importance. Holland was ruled by an independent count only loosely tied to the Empire. Wikipedia comments, "William I, Duke of Bavaria-Straubing (12 May 1330 – 15 April 1389), was the second son of Emperor Louis IV and Margaret II of Hainaut. He was also known as William V, Count of Holland, as William III, Count of Hainaut and as William IV, Count of Zeeland." William went insane in 1357 and his brother Albert assumed the regency. Only on the extinction of the Burgundians in 1477 did Holland become part of the Hapsburg inheritance. After Charles V's death in 1556, the Hapsburgs and the Protestants would collide, sparking the States' Revolt. While later goldgulden were lighter and lower in fineness than the ducat, this one appears to be full weight.
Recorded mintage: unknown but rare.
Specification: 3.49 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 3.46 g.
Catalog reference: Delm-725; Fr-105.
- Delmonte, A., Le Bénélux D'or, Amsterdam: Jacques Schulman N.V., 1964, with supplements to 1977.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Künker Auktion 352: Die Sammlung Hermann Schwarz: Faszination des gepragten Goldes. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2021.
Link to: