Liege (1538-44) 2 patards
The first specimen was lot 903 in Jean Elsen sale 158 (Brussels, March 2024), where it sold for €380 (about US$494 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"LIEGE, Principauté, Corneille de Berghes (1538-1544), AR double patard, s.d., Hasselt. D/ Deux griffons soutenant l'écu de l'évêque. R/ Croix feuillue, un fleuron en coeur. Rare. Très Beau. (prince-bishopric of Liège, Corneille de Berghes, 1538-44, undated double patard, Hasselt mint. Obverse: two griffins support the arms of the bishop; reverse: floriate cross, a florette in the center. Rare, Very Fine.)"
The second specimen was lot 1156 in Jean Elsen sale 158 (Brussels, March 2024), where it sold for €100 (about US$130 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"LIEGE, Principauté, Corneille de Berghes (1538-1544), AR double patard, s.d., Hasselt. D/ Deux griffons soutenant l'écu de l'évêque. R/ Croix feuillue, un fleuron en coeur. Rare. Troué. Légère faiblesse de frappe. Belle patine. presque Très Beau. Provient de la collection A. Symkens, Liège, 25 novembre 1991. (prince-bishopric of Liège, Cornelius of Berghes, 1538-44, undated silver double patard, Hasselt mint. Obverse: two griffins support the arms of the bishop; reverse: floriate cross, a florette at the center. Rare, holed, slightly weakly struck, nice patina, about Very Fine.)"
The bishopric of Liège was an ecclesiastical state in central Belgium and usually ruled by a Hapsburg client. The surrounding territory was ruled by the Spanish Hapsburgs from about 1500 until 1699 and the Austrian Hapsburgs 1714-97. Wikipedia says of Corneille: "His reign was a disaster, because of his fanatic persecution of presumed heretics, which alienated himself from the population. He resigned in 1544 to get married. Very little was registered about the rest of his life and marriage, only that he died around 1560."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, the first specimen 3,51 g; the second specimen 3,95 g.
Catalog reference: Chestret 462; Dengis 857.
- 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 158, Monnaies de la Principauté de Liège, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2024.
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