Gold Ducaton / 8 Sovereigns - Charles II

The gold ducaton — also called the 8 sovereigns — was among the highest-denomination coins circulating in the Spanish Netherlands during the twilight of Habsburg control. Charles II, the last Spanish Habsburg, was chronically ill and effectively childless throughout his reign, and the succession question that consumed his final years directly shaped minting priorities in Brabant: the Brussels and Antwerp workshops were kept active partly to demonstrate administrative continuity in a duchy whose political future was openly in doubt.

The KM#117.1 and 117.2 variants reflect production across two mints, Antwerp and Brussels respectively, distinguished primarily by mintmark.