AV Demi Noble 1488 Burgundy/ Brabant

[panzerman]

Got this nice early dated Burgundian AV Demi Noble 1488 from Hentzen.

Had to sell more bugs!

Burgundy/ Brabant

Mechelen Mint

Philip IV "der Schöne" Habsburg Duke of Burgundy 1477-1506

In 1477 Charles "the Bold" and his army were annihilated at the Battle of Nancy. Maria his sister then married Maximilian I Holy Roman Emperor. Thus it became a Habsburg domain.

Philip IV their son would rule as Duke of Burgundy. He married Joanna of Castille, their famous son would eventually become Holy Roman Emperor in 1516.

 

[JeandAcre]

@panzerman, this is a, well, typically stunning example (for your stuff) of a fantastic issue. 

As you note, for what's happening dynastically, it's momentous, with repercussions that resonate across Europe over a couple of centuries and change.  ...Right, in the painting, Philip wears the badge of the Order of the Golden Fleece, founded in Burgundy.  It's still around, but as two separate orders, based in Spain and Austria.  Maybe owing in part to the two (eventual) branches of the Habsburgs?  The range of the family's rule is staggering.

But the coin itself is terrific for underscoring how dramatic the historical transition is.  (Right, just starting with cultural and political dimensions.  ...Nope, left out economic ones.)  It's impossible not to believe you know this, but it's cool enough to be worth noting.  The obverse imitates the ones of the English AV nobles, going back to Edward III.  But it's an unapologetically free adaptation; even the carrack updates Edward's cogs. 

Meanwhile, the reverse riffs on the French ecus, also going back to the 14th century.  And, Yow, along with the fantastic Arabic date, the legends actually combine late Gothic and Roman letter forms.  (Thank you, the 'E's and 'B's.)  I can bet money I don't have that I've never seen that before.  Even Henry VII's later AR groats and testoons, with the profiles which, for northern Europe, can only be called precociously Renaissance, are paired with the relentlessly late Gothic lettering that goes back to the early 15th century. 

...Just, Stupendous.  Not making this up: with all the incredible gold you've gotten, nothing has made me sit up in my chair the way this did.  Heartiest congratulations.

Edited May 1 by JeandAcre

[panzerman]

Thanks so much JeandAcre🙂!

That coin caught my eye/ first time I saw it. Luckily for me/ a collector in Spain is buying my remaining bug collection, so he paid for that coin in exchange for butterflies. Ditto for the Vespasian aureus.

I would love to get a dated 1487 Real d'or from Holland/ Flanders! Collecting coins is the best🥰thing ever!

John

[DonnaML]

18 minutes ago, panzerman said:

Thanks so much JeandAcre🙂!

That coin caught my eye/ first time I saw it. Luckily for me/ a collector in Spain is buying my remaining bug collection, so he paid for that coin in exchange for butterflies. Ditto for the Vespasian aureus.

I would love to get a dated 1487 Real d'or from Holland/ Flanders! Collecting coins is the best🥰thing ever!

John

I had no idea that preserved insects could be as valuable as gold coins. I know which collection I'd rather have!

[ominus1]

Philip the Handsome^[b] (22 July 1478 – 25 September 1506), also called the Fair, was ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands and titular Duke of Burgundy from 1482 to 1506, as well as the first Habsburg King of Castile (as Philip I) for a brief time in 1506....father of Charles V and Ferdinand l, HRE/s..

[panzerman]

Yes/  he held many titles/ but died young (28).