Artois 1586 1/2 ecu

Jean Elsen sale 158, lot 770

This specimen was lot 770 in Jean Elsen sale 158 (Brussels, March 2024), where it sold for €950 (about US$1,235 including buyer's fees). The catalog description^[1] noted,

"ARTOIS, Comté, Philippe II (1555-1598), AR demi-écu Philippe, 1586, Arras. Sans les armes de Portugal au revers. D/ B. cuir. à d. COM· ART· en fin de légende. La date complète à d. du rat. R/ Ecu couronné sur une croix de Bourgogne, entre deux briquets, portant le bijou de la Toison d'or. De la plus haute rareté. Nettoyé. Fines griffes. Semble inédit. Très Beau. (county of Artois, Philip II, 1555-98, silver half écu Philippe of 1586, Arras mint, without the arms of Portugal on the reverse. Obverse: armored bust right, "COM· ART·" at the end of the legend, rat mintmark; reverse: crowned arms over a Burgundian cross between two firesteels supporting the jewels of the Golden Fleece. Extremely rare, cleaned, fine scratches, seems to be unpublished, Very Fine.)"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. The county of Artois would be conquered by the French in the seventeenth century and Arras would become a French mint, retaining the rat mintmark.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: silver; this specimen 15,94 g.

Catalog reference: G.H. 211-9c var.; Dewismes 177 var.; Delm-68a var.; VH 303 var.

Source:

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.

Link to:

Artois 1586 1/2 ecu

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