Guilder 'Burgundian' - Mary of Burgundy

Mary of Burgundy came to power in February 1477 following the death of Charles the Bold at the Battle of Nancy — a catastrophic military collapse that left the Burgundian Netherlands politically exposed and immediately besieged by Louis XI of France. To consolidate Flemish loyalty and secure the financial backing of the county's merchant elite, Mary issued the Great Privilege within days of her accession, restoring rights her father had stripped away. This coinage belongs to that same political calculus: a deliberate assertion of continuity with Burgundian monetary tradition at a moment when the dynasty's survival was genuinely uncertain.

The GH#37-3a and 3b varieties indicate at least two distinct die groupings within this short production window.