Tournai 1631 ducaton Dav-4450
This specimen was lot 1169 in Jean Elsen sale 163 (Brussels, November 2025), where it sold for €1,900 (about US$2,195 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"TOURNAI, Seigneurie, Philippe IV (1621-1665), AR ducaton, 1631. Premier type. D/ B. à d., une grande fraise au col. R/ Écu couronné, soutenu par deux lions. En dessous, le bijou de la Toison d'or. Rare. Flan large. Légère double frappe. (lordship of Tournai, Philip IV, 1621-65, silver ducaton of 1631, first type. Obverse: armored bust to right with ruffed collar; reverse: crowned arms supported by two lions, order of the Golden Fleece below. Rare, large planchet, lightly double struck, Very Fine.)
Ducatons were issued in the Spanish Netherlands and associated states (including the bishopric of Liège and Franche Comte) during the seventeenth century, where they competed with French écus, German talers and Dutch daalders and patagons. The type shown here was struck for Tournai 1631-36. A very similar coin was struck for Brabant (Dav-4444), Flanders (Dav-4446) and Artois (Dav-4448). The SCWC notes the Brussels issues as the most common, followed by the Antwerp issue, tho none are plentiful today. The series is plagued by bad planchets and poor strikes, tho less so than the patagons.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 32.48 g, 0.944 fine silver, .985 troy oz ASW, this specimen 32,24 g.
Catalog reference: KM 50, Dav-4450, G.H. 327-9a; Delm. 278; Hoc 507; VH 640.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1600-1700, Galesburg, IL, 1974.
- 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 163, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2025.
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