Thorn (1610) 4 stuivers
This specimen was lot 965 in Jean Elsen sale 158 (Brussels, March 2024), where it sold for €240 (about US$312 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"THORN, Abdij, Anna van der Marck (1604-1631), AR arendschelling (vier stuiver), z.j. Met titel van Matthias II (1608-1619). Vz/ Gekroond wapenschild op een Bourgondisch kruis. Kz/ Gekroonde rijksarend. Zeldzaam. Deels zwak. Mooie patina. Prachtig. Uit verzameling Virgil Brand VI, Sotheby, London, 18 mei 1984, 558 (lot). (abbey of Thorn, Anna of the Mark, 1604-31, undated silver eagle shilling or four stuivers, struck in the name of Matthais II, 1608-19. Obverse: crowned arms over a Burgundian cross; reverse: crowned imperial eagle. Scarce, double struck, nice patina, ex-Virgil Brand, Extremely Fine.)"
Wikipedia comments,
"First, the region of Thorn was a swamp nearby the Roman road between Maastricht and Nijmegen. But the region had been drained and about 975, Bishop Ansfried of Utrecht founded a Benedictine nunnery. This monastery developed since the 12th century into a secular stift or convent. The principal of the stift was the abbess. She was assisted by a chapter of at most twenty ladies of the highest nobility. Previously the abbess and the chapter were endowed with religious tasks but, since the 12th century, they served secular matters and formed the government of a truly sovereign miniature principality, the smallest independent state in the German Holy Roman Empire, approximately 250 x 250 metres. Besides Thorn, Ittervoort, Grathem, Baexem, Stramproy, Ell, Haler and Molenbeersel belonged to this principality. After the French invasion in the winter of 1794–95 and the formal abolition in 1797 made an end to the existence of the abbey and the principality of Thorn; Thorn was first part of the department of Meuse-Inférieure, and after the Vienna Congress it became a municipality of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands."
The abbey was invaded by French Revolutionary armies in 1794. The abbey was dissolved and the property confiscated and sold. Most of its coinage dates from the sixteenth century. Do not confuse it with the town of Thorn in Poland, which was a prolific issuer of coinage in the seventeenth century.
Reported Mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver or billon, this specimen 3,97 g.
Catalog reference: KM 8, Lucas 88.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 158, Monnaies de la Principauté de Liège, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2024.
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