Philip the Handsome was just seven years old in 1485, and the Brabant mint was operating under the regency council that governed the Habsburg Netherlands following the death of Mary of Burgundy two years earlier. The coins of this regency period occupy an administrative grey zone — issued in Philip's name before he could hold a pen, let alone exercise ducal authority, by a council navigating a fragile political settlement with the Flemish estates.
The billon fineness of these patards declined noticeably across the regency issues as the regents managed chronic fiscal pressure with limited room to maneuver.
Philip the Handsome was just seven years old in 1485, and the Brabant mint was operating under the regency council that governed the Habsburg Netherlands following the death of Mary of Burgundy two years earlier. The coins of this regency period occupy an administrative grey zone — issued in Philip's name before he could hold a pen, let alone exercise ducal authority, by a council navigating a fragile political settlement with the Flemish estates.
The billon fineness of these patards declined noticeably across the regency issues as the regents managed chronic fiscal pressure with limited room to maneuver.