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1 Crown 'Sun crown' - Charles V
| Issuer | Holland, County of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1540-1546 |
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| Currency | Gulden (1506-1581) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A short cross with fleur-de-lis terminals at each arm, with a quatrefoil at the central intersection. The four angles of the cross are occupied by alternating imperial double-headed eagles and castles, heraldic emblems of the Habsburg empire. The reverse legend, in Latin, is a devotional appeal for divine strength against enemies, with the date appearing at the close of the inscription. The overall composition reflects the standard cruciform reverse design common to Habsburg Low Countries gold coinage of the mid-sixteenth century. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The "Sun crown" — couronne au soleil — was introduced by Francis I of France in 1475 and quickly became one of the most imitated gold denominations in northwestern Europe. Charles V's Holland issues follow the French monetary model almost directly, a pragmatic acknowledgment that the French coin had achieved the kind of cross-border merchant acceptance that imperial coinage alone could not guarantee in the Low Countries trading networks of the 1540s.
The Dordrecht mint struck these under the administration of the Habsburg Netherlands, with production bracketed by Charles's ongoing wars with France — a period when reliable gold coinage was as much a military logistics tool as a commercial one.