Namur (1497-99) patard
This specimen was lot 896 in Jean Elsen sale 135 (Brussels, December 2017), where it sold for €130 (about US$180 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"NAMUR, Comté, Philippe le Beau (1482-1506), AR patard, s.d. (1497-99). D/ Ecu couronné d'Autriche-Bourgogne. R/ Croix longue coupant un quadrilobe, un briquet en coeur. Belle patine. Superbe. (Spanish Netherlands, county of Namur, Philip the Handsome, 1482-1506, undated silver patard. Obverse: crowned arms of Austria-Burgundy; reverse: long cross over a quadrilobe, jewel in the center. Extremely fine.)"
At this time, the Hapsburgs were consolidating their hold on the Low Countries, a process that would not be completed until emperor Charles V obtained the holdings of the bishop of Utrecht in the 1520's. Unfortunately, at the same time, Protestantism was spreading in the Netherlands, ripping apart the Hapsburg's hoped-for unity.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 2,85 g.
Catalog reference: G.H. 112-7; Chalon, Namur, 215.
- 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 135, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils, S.A., 2017.
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