Tournai 1589 couronne d'or Fr-387
This specimen was lot 3402 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2017), where it sold for $5,405. The catalog description[1] noted, "SPANISH NETHERLANDS. Tournai. Couronne d'Or, 1589. Philip II (1555-98). NGC MS-62. RARE. Floriate cross, lions and briquets in angles; Reverse: Crowned arms between "P - P", Portuguese arms superimposed. Housed in an older generation NGC holder, the sole finest certified example, possibly the finest extant. A tremendous piece with fantastic strike detail on the arms and an abundance of luster. Great eye appeal." This is the second of two types for Tournai; the first, issued 1584-87, lacked the arms of Portugal shown here. The couronne d'or was revived in Tournai in 1614 but we don't know if the same weight standard was used.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.31 g, .919 fine gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-387; Delm-435.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Delmonte, A., Le Bénélux D'or, Amsterdam: Jacques Schulman N.V., 1964, with supplements to 1977.
- van der Wis, Jan, and Tom Passon, Catalogus van de Nederlandse Munten geslagen sind bet aantreden van Philips II tot aan het einde van de Bataafse Republiek (1555-1806), 2nd ed., Apeldoorn, Netherlands: Omni-Trading b.v., 2009.
- [1]Ponterio, Richard, The January 2017 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Richard Stuart Collection, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2016.
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