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1 Angel - Henry van Brederode
| Issuer | Lordship of Vianen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1556-1568 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | A large sailing ship depicted in full profile occupies the central field, its hull rendered in fine detail with multiple tiers of oars or strakes. A quartered heraldic shield bearing the arms of Brederode is prominently displayed amidships, surmounted by the initials H and B. The ship rides stylized waves in the lower field, with the rigging and masts extending toward the inner legend border. The entire design is executed in the hammered style typical of mid-sixteenth-century Low Countries gold coinage, with a beaded inner circle separating the ship from the surrounding circumferential legend. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Archangel Michael is depicted standing in full figure at the center of the field, clad in armor and wearing a nimbus, his large wings spread prominently behind him. He thrusts a lance downward into a dragon prostrate beneath his feet at lower right, the beast rendered with scaled body and open jaws. The Archangel's posture is dynamic and commanding, consistent with the iconographic tradition of the angel coinage derived from English and Burgundian prototypes. A beaded inner circle frames the central device, separating it from the circumferential legend in uncial Latin characters. |
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| Additional information |
Vianen was a tiny lordship wedged between the major minting authorities of the Low Countries, and the van Brederode family exploited that jurisdictional ambiguity aggressively. Henry van Brederode — later famous as one of the founding agitators of the Dutch Revolt, a signer of the Compromise of Nobles in 1566 — used his minting rights to produce gold that circulated well beyond his modest territorial holdings. The Angel type was a deliberate imitation of the highly trusted English Angel, minted to attract acceptance in regional trade circuits that would have otherwise ignored coinage from so minor a lord.
Henry died in 1568, the same year William of Orange launched his first military campaign against Spanish rule. His lordship's coinage ceased with him.