Liege (1609) 2 patards KM-B3
This specimen was lot 1120 in Jean Elsen sale 156 (Brussels, September 2023), where it sold for €1,700 (about US$2,181 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"LIEGE, Principauté, Ernest de Bavière (1581-1612), AR double patard (2 sols), s.d. (1609), Liège. D/ Ecu couronné, écartelé de Bavière-Palatinat, entre la valeur II-S. R/ Trois écussons posés en triangle autour d'un globule: Empire, parti Bouillon et tour, Liège. Au dessus, le perron. De la plus haute rareté. Semble unique. presque Très Beau. (principality of Liège, Ernest of Bavaria, 1581-1612, undated silver double patard or two sols, circa 1609, Liège mint. Obverse: crowned and quartered arms of Bavaria and the Palatinate divides the value; reverse: three shields arranged in a circle around a pellet, below, a column. Of the highest rarity, seems to be unique, about Very Fine.)
"Type inconnu de Chestret, publié sur base d'une illustration de 1614. Le 26 juin 1609, le maître Adrien Franssen présenta à l'essai les doubles patards, patards et demi-réaux frappés dans l'atelier de Liège. La présence d'une tour dans l'écusson parti de Bouillon n'a pas encore été expliquée. (A type unseen by Chestret, who listed it based on an illustration from 1614. On June 26, 1609, mintmaster Adrien Franssen presented prototypes of double patards, patards and half reals struck at the Liège mint. The present of a tower on the shield of Bouillon has not been explained.)"
The bishopric of Liège was an ecclesiastical state in central Belgium. The surrounding territory was ruled by the Spanish Hapsburgs from about 1500 until 1699 and the Austrian Hapsburgs 1714-97.
Ernest was the first of four prince-bishops from Bavaria. They were also dukes of Bouillon, archbishops of Cologne and electors of the Empire, all of which titles appeared in various combinations on their coins. They are as follows:
- Ernest, r. 1581-1612, archbishop of Cologne (1583-1612), bishop of Münster (1584-1612), Freising, Hildesheim and Liège.
- Ferdinand, r. 1612-50, archbishop of Cologne, bishop of Münster, Hildesheim, Paderborn (1618-50) and Liège. Never ordained as a priest.
- Maximilian Henry, r. 1650-88, archbishop of Cologne, bishop of Münster, Hildesheim and Liège. Lost the duchy of Bouillon to Louis XIV.
- Joseph Clement, r. 1688-1723, bishop of Regensburg and Freising (1685-94) and archbishop of Cologne, bishop of Hildesheim (1702-23) and Liège (1694-1723).
- Clemens August, r. 1723-61, bishop of Regensburg (1716-19) and then archbishop of Cologne, bishop of Münster, Hildesheim, Osnabrück and Paderborn but never ruled in Liège. His incompetence and extravagance ended Wittelsbach rule in Cologne.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: billon, this specimen is 2,06 g.
Catalog reference: KM B3, Chestret 543 (not found); coll. Piat -; Dengis 976 (this example, the only one reported).
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [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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