Liege (1544-45) florin d'or Fr-307
This specimen was lot 1062 in Jean Elsen sale 156 (Brussels, September 2023), where it sold for €13,000 (about US$16,680 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"LIEGE, Principauté, Georges d'Autriche (1544-1557), AV florin d'or au saint Georges, s.d. (1544-1545), Liège ou Hasselt. D/ GEORGIVS◦- ◦AB◦ AVSTREA Saint Georges deb. derrière l'écu de l'évêque, transperçant le dragon de sa lance. R/ + EPS'◦ LEOD'◦ DVX◦ BVLLO' COMES◦ LOS Croix ornée, un fleuron au centre, cantonnée des écussons de Liège, Bouillon-Liège, Looz et Franchimont. De la plus haute rareté. Fines griffes au droit. Très Beau. Provient de la collection A. Symkens, 25 novembre 1991, de Schulman, Amsterdam, vente 237, 19 mars 1963, 1165 et de la collection G.H. Crone. (principality of Liège, George of Austria, 1544-57, undated gold florin of St. George, circa 1544-45, Liège or Hasselt mints. Obverse: St. George pierces the dragon with his lance while holding the shield of the bishopric; reverse: ornate cross, a rosette at the center, cantonned with the shields of Liège, Bouillon-Liège, Looz and Franchimont. Of the highest rarity, fine scratches on the obverse, Very Fine.)
"Georges d'Autriche, né en 1505 à Gand, était un fils naturel de l'empereur Maximilien Ier de Habsbourg. Il était donc l'oncle de Charles Quint. Il fut élu évêque de Brixen en Tyrol en 1525, puis archevêque de Valence en 1538. Charles Quint l'imposa dès 1541 au chapitre de Saint-Lambert comme coadjuteur et successeur désigné de Corneille de Berghes, lequel se démit en sa faveur en 1544. Georges d'Autriche devint ainsi prince-évêque de Liège et occupa le siège épiscopal jusqu'à sa mort en 1557. (George of Austria, born in 1505 in Ghent, was a natural son of Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg. He was therefore the uncle of Charles V. He was elected bishop of Brixen in Tyrol in 1525, then archbishop of Valence in 1538. Charles V imposed him in 1541 on the chapter of Saint-Lambert as coadjutor and designated successor of Corneille de Berghes, who resigned in his favor in 1544. George of Austria thus became prince-bishop of Liège and occupied the episcopal see until his death in 1557.)"
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.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.25 g, 0.917 fine gold, this specimen is 3,17 g.
Catalog reference: Chestret 470 var.; coll. Piat -; Dengis 870 var. (trois exemplaires répertoriés); Delm-340 (cet exemplaire illustré).
- 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]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 156, Collection de Monnaies de la Principauté de Liège, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2023.
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