Tournai 1602 1/2 florin
This specimen was lot 1290 in Jean Elsen sale 153 (Brussels, December 2022), where it sold for €110 (about US$139 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"TOURNAI, Seigneurie, Albert et Isabelle (1598-1621), AR demi-florin (10 sols), 1602. Sans la tour au droit. D/ B. affrontés des archiducs sous une couronne. R/ Croix de Bourgogne sous une couronne. En dessous, X. DOM· TOR en fin de légende. Beau. (lordship of Tournai, Albert and Isabella, 1598-1621, silver half florin or ten sols of 1602, without tower on the obverse. Obverse:facing busts of the archdukes under a crown; reverse: Burgundian cross under a crown, "X" below, "DOM· TOR" at the end of the legend. Fine.)"
This rare type is listed in the SCWC for 1601-02 and may have been struck in 1600 as well. It was part of the coinage reform of Albert and Isabella which attempted to revive the devastated Spanish Netherlands.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 8.53 g, .667 fine silver; this specimen is 7,66 g.
Catalog reference: KM 3, G.H. 288-7b; Delm. 244; Hoc 375; V.H. 588.
- 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 153, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2022.
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