Stack’s Bowers Galleries is thrilled to be able to preview yet another
highlight from the upcoming January New York International Auction. Similar to
last week, we feature a gold piece in beautiful condition issued by a ruler
named Philip. This time, it is Philip the Fair of the Habsburg house, who ruled
as the Duke of Burgundy and Lord of the Netherlands, titles he inherited from
his mother, Mary, Duchess of Burgundy. Philip’s father was Maximilian I, Holy
Roman Emperor, who served as regent for Philip after the untimely death of Mary
at the age of 25. Unfortunately Philip would also predecease Maximilian, never
ascending to the throne of the Holy Roman Emperor. During the regency of
Philip, the coinage produced for him simply states the name and titles for
Maximilian.
The obverse design features an impressive motif of the Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian fully armored, brandishing a sword and holding a globus cruciger.
The emperor is standing on the deck of a ship with a shield featuring the arms
of Austria-Burgundy (the arms of young Philip). The reverse design is an ornate
triple-stranded short floriated cross in polyfoil with crowns in the angles. At
the center of the design is an “M” for Maximilian. One of the most remarkable
things about this piece is that it is dated, 1488 to be exact. Entire
collections and reference works (Such as Levinson and Frey) are dedicated to
coins that feature a precise date earlier than 1500. This example is a
fantastically well preserved coin with a sharp strike and great luster.
While we are no longer accepting consignments for our New York
International Auction, we are accepting consignments of world and ancient coins
as well as world paper money for our May 2017 Collector’s Choice Online Auction
and August 2017 ANA Auction as well as Chinese and other Asian coins and
currency for our April 2017 Hong Kong Showcase Auction. Time is running short,
so if you are interested in consigning your coins and paper currency (whether a
whole collection or a single rarity) be sure to contact one of our consignment
directors.
