10 Euros - Philippe Hanseatic Cities

The Hanseatic League, the medieval trading network that dominated northern European commerce from roughly the 13th through 17th centuries, never issued its own coinage — member cities struck independently, which makes a unified commemorative issued by Belgium an irony worth noting. Bruges was among the League's most strategically critical western hubs, its decline tied directly to the silting of the Zwin estuary cutting off deep-water access by the late 15th century.

This is part of Belgium's ongoing "Philippe" commemorative silver program, with each release tied to a distinct historical or cultural theme under the current reign.