Liege 1568 florin d'or Fr-308
This specimen was lot 1097 in Jean Elsen sale 156 (Brussels, September 2023), where it sold for €17,000 (about US$21,812 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"LIEGE, Principauté, Gérard de Groesbeeck (1564-1580), AV florin d'or, 1568, Hasselt. Au titre de Maximilien II. D/ * GERARD A GROISB EP LEOD B C LOS Cartouche orné aux armes de l'évêque. R/ MAXIMI II ROMA IM SEM AV 1568 Aigle impériale éployée et couronnée. Extrêmement rare. Très Beau. Provient de la collection Dr Sandront et de la collection Bovier. (principality of Liège, Gérard de Groesbeeck, 1564-80, gold florin of 1568, Hasselt mint, struck in the name of Maximilian II. Obverse: arms of the bishop in an ornate cartouche; reverse: crowned imperial eagle. Extremely rare, 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.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.25 g, 0.917 fine gold, this specimen is 3,22 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-308, Chestret 509; coll. Piat -; Dengis 934 (four examples reported); Delm-341 (plate coin).
- 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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