Tournai 1588 1/2 ecu
This specimen was lot 995 in Jean Elsen sale 156 (Brussels, September 2023), where it sold for €220 (about US$282 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"TOURNAI, Seigneurie, Philippe II (1555-1598), AR demi-écu Philippe, 1588. D/ B. cuir. à g. R/ Ecu couronné avec écusson de Portugal sur le tout, sur une croix de Bourgogne, entre deux briquets, portant le bijou de la Toison d'or. Rare. Flan court. Frappe faible au revers. Beau à Très Beau. (lordship of Tournai, Philip II, 1555-98, silver half écu of 1588. Obverse: armored bust left; reverse: crowned arms with the escutcheon of Portugal over a Burgundian cross, between two firesteels supporting the jewels of the Golden Fleece. Rare, tight flan, weakly struck on the reverse, Fine - Very Fine.)"
The Netherlands, which then comprised all of the Low Countries, fell to the king of Spain on the extinction of the Burgundian dukes in 1477. The northern provinces converted to Lutheranism and later Calvinism during the Reformation but the southern provinces (today Belgium) remained Catholic. Hence, when the northern provinces revolted against king Philip, the southern provinces remained loyal and served as the base for Spanish attacks on the north. The Spanish were unable to conquer the rebels and were eventually forced to recognize their independence in 1648. The Spanish Netherlands passed to Austria upon the extinction of the Spanish Hapsburgs in 1700.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen is 16,82 g.
Catalog reference: G.H. 211-14c; Delm-77; Hoc 267; V.H. 364.
- 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 156, Collection de Monnaies de la Principauté de Liège, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2023.
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