A while ago, my favourite dealer in Chinese coins published one of his roughly bimonthly pricelists. The Chinese part of the pricelist only contained a single coin I was interested in, so I was looking for additional coins to justify the high shipping costs from the US. That is when this little snack caught my eye. I am always on the lookout for medieval coins from the low countries, and lacked an example of this iconic type. While it has a fair bit more wear than my usual medieval purchases, I couldn’t pass on this toned beauty with just a 38 USD-price tag! Jan III, 1312-1355, Duke of Brabant and Limburg (personal union) AR Esterlin or Brabantse (called ‘Brabantinus’ by modern numismatists) Struck in Leuven (Louvain), 1329-1337 Obv.: + DUX BRABANTIE, Coat of Arms of Jan III Rev.: + MONETA LOVANIES, Floriate Cross The coat of arms on the obverse depicts four lions; the coat of arms of the dukes of Brabant after the battle of Woeringen in 1288. This battle formed the conclusion of the war of the Limburg’s Succession, the conflict between the counts of Guelders and the dukes of Brabant over the empty throne of Limburg, and the victorious dukes of Brabant could also add Limburg to the list of their domains. The first and fourth quarter show the lion of Brabant, with a single tail, while quarters two and three show the split-tailed lion of Limburg. Pay attention to their incredibly feroucious paws! Can anyone beat four lions on a single coin? Jan III (John for the Anglophones amongst us) is also a fascinating historical figure. Under his reign, the towns of Brabant flourished due to the wool-trade with England. It was precisely the protection of this wool trade, as well as being cousin to the English king, that led him to ally with Edward III during the breakout of the hundred years’ war. However, after Edward III retreated back to England after an initial wave of invasions that had had little effect, he would turn his back on Edward and ally himself with the French king. He would eventually pass away in 1355, outliving all his male children, leading to the conflict known as the war of Brabant’s succession between Guelders and Flanders. Under Jan III, these Esterlins were struck in Leuven (this piece), Brussels and Haelen. The latter being significantly more rare and only sporadically appearing on auctions. Fortunately, there is one going up for auction in about a months’ time, so I’ll be pursuing that one! A complete set of all three mints and the imitations of this type, including those from Luxemburg, would be the goal, but I’m still a long way off. Post some of the snacks you purchased under the guise of ‘Technically I am saving on shipping costs by buying this!’
Here is my coin from Brabant, struck in Brussels, Belgium Just out of curiosity, was this the coin you had your eye on? It caught my eye.
As for “snacks” to justify the shipping costs: Pretty pfennig of Stasbourg: An armada of Messin deniers. A Rome denier struck in imitation of a Champange, France denier.
Awesome coins, @TypeCoin971793! Once again, I am beginning to suspect you have a thing for coins from metz… I did also look at that one, but ultimately decided that it didn’t really fit within the budget. The other coin I did buy was not listed on the main list, but was put in his general inventory at roughly the same time; it is indeed also a spade, but much later in origin. You might recognise the type, it is my absolute favourite spade (double value):
You open the year with your brabantine and 11 months later this is probably the best specimen to complement your post: A demi-gros a l'ecu of Jan III, minted in Bruxelles about 1326-1330, which I think circulated at an exchange rate of double esterlin (or double brabantine). These are presumably very rare if you ask the dealers in the Netherlands and there was only one in the de Wit collection (Kunker 121, 1130), but of the early and usual type, with + SIGnVM : CRUCIS legend on the cross side. This one is one of the back of the series, when apparently CRUCIS became + SIGnVM : CRUCI✿, a scarcer variation. Similar example here.
Nice coins, I love Low Countries material! Here is Brabant/ Brussels Mint AV Cavalier d'or ND Philip Le Bon Should have been named Philip Le Mal Since he arrested Joan of Arc and handed her to the English, who falsely accised her of witchcraft and roasted her on the stake.
Yes, they are particularly aesthetic, even when broken and chipped, as this Louis de Male Botdrager of 1369:
Here is Double Souverain d'or 1747 Antwerpen Mint "Hand" mm Austrian Netherlands Empress Maria Theresia 1740-80
I can't remember the last time I bought from a pricelist. Maybe 15+ years ago. My collection is via the auction route. I do have pieces from Brabant though. These two are some of my earliest with dates. Happy New Year.
