Limburg 1474 stuber
This specimen was lot 479 in Jean Elsen sale 157 (Brussels, December 2023), where it sold for €650 (about US$838 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"ALLEMAGNE, LIMBURG, Comté, Heinrich Ier (1443-1486), AR Stüber, 1474, Broich. Imitation du vlieger de Groningen. D/ + HENRICVS COM-ES DE LIMBOR' Cygne éployé, t. à g., au-dessus de l'écu incliné de Limburg. R/ ANNO:- DNI: M-CCCCL-XXIIII: (débutant à 3h) Croix pattée longue avec au centre la lettre B dans un losange. Très rare. Double frappe. Beau à Très Beau. (county of Limburg, Henry I, 1443-86, silver stuiver of 1474, Broich mint, imitation of a vlieger of Groningen. Obverse: a swan displayed, head to left, arms of Limburg below; reverse: date in Roman numerals, a long cross with a "B" in the center in a lozenge. Very rare, double struck, Fine - Very Fine.)"
The count of Limburg may have been independent when he issued this coin but the county was already part of the Burgundian inheritance. He may have issued this coin without authorization; the crude fabric suggests a hedgerow mint. The vlieger was a piece of four patards but the ones we have posted on this site are from the sixteenth century.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver or billon, this specimen 2,54 g.
Catalog reference: Berghaus & Spiegel 78; Frey 160C; Levinson I-136.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Levinson, Robert, The Early Dated Coins of Europe, 1234-1500: An Illustrated Catalogue and Guide to dated medieval coinage. Clifton, NJ: Coin & Currency Institute, 2007.
- 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 157, Collection J.-C. Martiny, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2023.
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