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| Issuer | Lordship of Utrecht (Dutch States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1568 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | Delmonte S#86 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | PHILIPPVS · DEI · G · HISP · REX · DNS · TRAIEC 15 68 (Translation: Philip, by God`s Grace King of the Spaniards, Lord of Utrecht) |
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| Additional information |
Piedforts were never intended for commerce. Philip II's administration in the Low Countries used them primarily as presentation pieces — issued to officials, diplomats, or as gifts to the sovereign himself — struck on specially prepared planchets at double the standard weight to demonstrate the full quality of the die work without the compromises of mass production. The Utrecht mint was operating under acute political strain in 1568; this was the year the Duke of Alba arrived to enforce Spanish authority and the first executions of Egmont and Hoorn took place, marking the opening violence of what would become the Eighty Years' War.
Surviving examples of this specific Delmonte S#86 piedfort are extraordinarily rare. The double-weight flan demanded premium silver and skilled preparation, and output was counted in single digits rather than thousands.