Tournai 1587 ecu Dav-8655
This specimen was lot 785 in Jean Elsen sale 158 (Brussels, March 2024), where it sold for €380 (about US$494 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"TOURNAI, Seigneurie, Philippe II (1555-1598), AR écu Philippe, 1587. D/ B. cuirassé 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. Très rare. Nettoyé. Craquelures du flan. presque Très Beau. (lordship of Tournai, Philip II, 1555-98, écu Philippe of 1587. 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. Very rare, cleaned, flan cracks, about 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.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver; this specimen 33,97 g.
Catalog reference: Dav-8655, G.H. 210-14; Delm-45; Hoc 253; VH 362.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1484-1600, Frankfurt: Numismatischer Verlag, 1977.
- 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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