Austrian Netherlands Liard

[JamminJ]

Hello everyone,

 

Last week Greg and I had the opportunity to browse though an old collection (not even cataloged yet by the owner) at our local coins shop. One of the goodies I pulled out was this 1777 liard of the Austrian Netherlands:

 

Struck at the Brussels mint it features Maria Theresa, mother of emperor Joseph II and the real power behind the throne. Not an uncommon coin, but cool with an XF catalog value of $20, especially as my collection is surprisingly deficient in Maria Theresa coins.

 

The lands comprising the Austrian Netherlands (roughly modern day Belgium) have a long history of bouncing from ruler to ruler as a result of various wars and peace conferences. The man who later became emperor Charles V was born in Flanders (1500) and rose to his family inheritance as the Duke of Burgundy, which encompassed the later Austrian Netherlands. Charles later inherited from different grandparents the Crowns of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. He bound Flanders to the Spanish crown, considered the more important at the time. Spanish rule, while tumultuous, was maintained through the close of the War of Spanish Succession when the Treaty of Utrecht (1715) provided for the French conquered provinces to be transferred to Austria.

 

Being a rich and prosperous region the Austrian Netherlands were thought to be quite a prize. However, they proved to be strategically indefensible being lost to France in 1795 at the beginning of the Wars of the French Revolution. Once the age of Napoleon passed (1815) Flanders was then joined with Kingdom of the Netherlands. Once again, the union was short lived as a revolution against William I of Orange, along with British encouragement, caused this region to finally take its modern form as Belgium. Enough to make ones head spin!

 

Comments are, as always, welcome!

 

-JamminJ

[EZ_E]

A great historical account. I really enjoyed it.

 

Think that Maria Theresa had but three years to live when this coin was minted.

 

We may live in linear time but accounts such as yours denies this fact!

[JamminJ]

I'm glad you enjoy the historical accounts! It one of the main things that drew me to coins like this. I used to just keep a little notebook with the historical backgrounds to my coin purchaces, but if others enjoy them why not share.

 

You're correct about Maria Theresa having only three years left to live wnhen this coin was made, she died in 1780. The portrait is termed the widow head as her husband, Franz I, died in 1765.

 

-JamminJ

[gmarguli]

Last week Greg and I had the opportunity to browse though an old collection (not even cataloged yet by the owner) at our local coins shop. One of the goodies I pulled out was this 1777 liard of the Austrian Netherlands:

 

You forgot to mention the best part, the owner said he purchased these coins DECADES ago and from the looks of it, that is about right. The newest coin I saw in there was dated 1966. MANY coins had prices on the 2x2's they were in - like 35c when the new Krause priced them at $150-250. Of course the dealer didn't sell them to us at those prices, but he is a very fair person. I picked out around $1500 worth of coins and I only looked thru 4 of maybe 60 boxes. And those 60 boxes only represent 1/3 of the stuff he purchased from the same person.

[JamminJ]

You forgot to mention the best part, the owner said he purchased these coins DECADES ago and from the looks of it, that is about right. The newest coin I saw in there was dated 1966. MANY coins had prices on the 2x2's they were in - like 35c when the new Krause priced them at $150-250. Of course the dealer didn't sell them to us at those prices, but he is a very fair person. I picked out around $1500 worth of coins and I only looked thru 4 of maybe 60 boxes. And those 60 boxes only represent 1/3 of the stuff he purchased from the same person.

 

I didn't want the whole world showing up! The coin above had four prices listed on the 2x2: $1.50, $6.00, $15.00 and $30.00.

 

It will certainly be fun to plow through the rest, and I'll be a second look through Austria would still yield a few gems.

 

-JamminJ

[gmarguli]

I didn't want the whole world showing up! The coin above had four prices listed on the 2x2: $1.50, $6.00, $15.00 and $30.00.

 

If anyone wants to drive out to Van Buren Coins and Treasures in Riverside, they are more than welcome. However, I seriously doubt the owner would let any of them look thru the boxes. He told me that he never let anyone else look thru them and he said I could and that it was OK if my friend also wanted to look thru them.