Liege 1664 ducat Fr-326
This specimen was lot 1258 in Jean Elsen sale 164 (Brussels, March 2026), where it sold for €4,200 (about US$5,847 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"LIÈGE, Principauté, Maximilien Henri de Bavière (1650-1688), AV ducat au buste, 1664, Liège. Avec la date au revers. D/ B. à d., vêtu du manteau d'électeur. R/ Écu écartelé de Bavière-Palatinat, avec écusson de Bouillon sur le tout, dans un cartouche orné et couronné. La date 16-64 de part et d'autre de la couronne. De la plus haute rareté. Petit coup sur la tranche. Très Beau. (prince-bishopric of Liège, Maximilian Henry of Bavaria, 1650-88, gold bust ducat of 1664, Liège mint, with the date on the reverse. Obverse: bust right, wearing an elector's mantle; reverse: quartered arms of Bavaria and the Palatinate with the escutcheon of Bouillon, in an ornate cartouche. The date is divided by the coronet. Of the highest rarity. Very Fine.)"
te SCWC notes two different ducats of 1664: KM 81 (date on obverse) or KM 82 (date on reverse, shown here).
Maximilian Henry was the third of four prince-bishops from Bavaria. They were also dukes of Bouillon, archbishops of Cologne and electors of the Empire, all of which titles appeared in various combinations on their coins. They are as follows:
- Ernest, r. 1581-1612, archbishop of Cologne (1583-1612), bishop of Münster (1584-1612), Freising, Hildesheim and Liège.
- Ferdinand, r. 1612-50, archbishop of Cologne, bishop of Münster, Hildesheim, Paderborn (1618-50) and Liège. Never ordained as a priest.
- Maximilian Henry, r. 1650-88, archbishop of Cologne, bishop of Münster, Hildesheim and Liège. Lost the duchy of Bouillon to Louis XIV.
- Joseph Clement, r. 1688-1723, bishop of Regensburg and Freising (1685-94) and archbishop of Cologne, bishop of Hildesheim (1702-23) and Liège (1694-1723).
- Clemens August, r. 1723-61, bishop of Regensburg (1716-19) and then archbishop of Cologne, bishop of Münster, Hildesheim, Osnabrück and Paderborn but never ruled in Liège. His incompetence and extravagance ended Wittelsbach rule in Cologne.
- Johann Theodor, r. 1744-63, bishop of Regensburg (1719-63), Freising (1727-63) and Liège (1744-63).
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.49 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 3,43 g.
Catalog reference: KM 82, Chestret, Suppl. 32; Dengis 1104; Delm. 359.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- 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 164: Monnaies du duché de Brabant et du royaume de Belgique, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2026.
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