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1/2 Ecu 'Philippe' - Philip II Bust right
| Issuer | Tournai, Lordship of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1581 |
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| Value | 1/2 Ecu = 9 Stuivers (0.875) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Armored bust of Philip II facing right, rendered in high relief with finely engraved detail on the pauldron, gorget, and ruff collar typical of late 16th-century Spanish royal portraiture. The king is depicted bearded, with curled hair, in a bold and naturalistic style characteristic of Habsburg coinage of the period. The date 1581 appears in the lower field beneath the bust. A circular Latin legend surrounds the effigy, broken by the portrait, and the coin's irregular flan, characteristic of hammered production, is visible at the periphery. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | PHS · D : G · HISP · Z · REX· D · TORNA · (Translation: Philip, by God`s grace King of the Spaniards and Lord of Tournai) |
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| Additional information |
Tournai's mint operated under Spanish Habsburg authority during the opening phase of the revolt that would eventually sever the northern provinces permanently. By 1581, the year this half écu was struck, the Union of Arras had already bound the southern Catholic provinces — including Tournai — back to Philip II's obedience, a direct counterweight to the Union of Utrecht formed the previous year. The city would fall definitively to Parma's forces the following year.
The Delmonte reference places this among the scarcer provincial issues of the southern Netherlands series. Tournai's output in this period was intermittent, constrained by both the military situation and periodic interruptions to bullion supply from Antwerp.