1/2 Rider - Philip the Good

Philip the Good introduced the Rider coinage for Brabant in 1434 as part of a broader monetary reform intended to stabilize exchange rates across his Burgundian territories, which by that point stretched from Flanders to Holland. The half-Rider sat at a practical transaction point that the full piece could not serve, and Philip's mints at Vilvoorde and Brabant struck both denominations concurrently. The Burgundian monetary ordinances of the 1430s were among the most sophisticated in northern Europe, coordinating output across multiple duchies under a single authority.

The .992 fineness is exceptionally high for a circulating gold piece of this period.