Tournai 1583 1/5 ecu

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Jean Elsen sale 158, lot 795

This specimen was lot 795 in Jean Elsen sale 158 (Brussels, March 2024), where it sold for €480 (about US$624 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,

"TOURNAI, Seigneurie, Philippe II (1555-1598), AR cinquième d'écu Philippe, 1583. D/ B. cuirassé à g. R/ Ecu couronné sur une croix de Bourgogne, entre deux briquets, portant le bijou de la Toison d'or. Rare. Très Beau. (lordship of Tournai, Philip II, 1555-98, fifth écu Philippe of 1583. Obverse: armored bust left; reverse: crowned arms with the escutcheon of Portugal over a Burgundian cross between two firesteels bearing the jewels of the Golden Fleece. Rare, Very Fine.)"

By 1586, the revolt of the southern provinces had been crushed. The Spanish rulers, among other things, restored the old écu Philippe and its fractions and struck them to the end of the reign. By this time, king Philip had added Portugal to his domain, so that shield was added to the arms. Twentieth, tenth and fifth écus were minted in Artois, Brabant, Flanders, Hainaut and Tournai as a very early experiment with decimal coinage.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 6.80 g, 0.833 fine silver; this specimen 6,49 g.

Catalog reference: G.H. 212-14a; Hoc 281; VH 304.

Source:

  • 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 158, Monnaies de la Principauté de Liège, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2024.

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