Tournai 1610 1/2 real
This specimen was lot 920 in Jean Elsen sale 159 (Brussels, June 2024), where it sold for €700 (about US$899 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"TOURNAI, Seigneurie, Albert et Isabelle (1598-1621), AR demi-réal, 1610. D/ Ecu d'Autriche-Bourgogne couronné, posé sur une croix de Bourgogne, accosté de la date. R/ Briquet couronné, orné du bijou de la Toison d'or. Très rare. Belle patine. Très Beau à Superbe. Provient de la collection A.M. Huntington et de notre vente 115, 8 décembre 2012, 615. (lordship of Tournai, Albert and Isabella, 1598-1621, silver half real of 1610. Obverse: crowned arms of Austria-Burgundy over a Burgundian cross, dividing the date; reverse: crowned firesteel adorned with the jewel of the Golden Fleece. Very rare, nice patina, very fine to extremely fine.)"
This rare type is listed for Tournai for 1607-11. The denomination was also struck in Flanders and Brabant as part of Albert and Isabella's second coinage reform, the first one based on the silver florin not working.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.48 g, 0.396 fine silver, this specimen 2,94 g.
Catalog reference: KM 13, G.H. 294-7; Hoc 390; VH 596.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- 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 159, Collection Harry Dewit, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2024.
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