The January New York International Numismatic Convention starts this week! The world team here at Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio is excited to preview one final highlight before the show starts. This week we have a choice 2 Mouton d’or of Jeanne, the Duchess of Brabant and her husband, Wenceslas, Duke of Luxembourg. The Duchy of Brabant comprised an area which included Brussels, the modern capital of Belgium. The Duchy’s coat of arms, a golden lion with red claws and tongue on a black field, provided the colors for the modern flag of Belgium. This superb coin is a stellar example of early Belgian gold, and should command furious bidding once it reaches the auction block.
The denomination 2 Mouton d’or refers to the obverse design, the Lamb (Mouton is French for sheep). The “Lamb of God” or Agnus Dei is depicted with traditional regalia — a halo, cross and flag. The reverse design is an ornate Floriate (or leafy) cross in a quadrilobe. Several fleur de lis appear in the angles and outside the quadrilobe. The legends for both the obverse and reverse are full, owing to the excellence of the strike. This very attractive specimen was struck on an unwrinkled flan at the Vilvorde Mint, just north of Brussels in the 1370 or 1371. The elegant beauty of this coin is reinforced by the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation, (NGC) who graded it Mint State-63.
Look for this and other world numismatic rarities in our upcoming January New York International Sale. For details or to preview this impressive coin along with the rest of our auction, please refer to the Auction Schedule/Details link under Browse Auctions at www.StacksBowers.com. While our Stack’s Bowers and Ponterio January New York International sale is closed for further consignments, we are currently taking consignments of world and ancient coins for our April 2014 Hong Kong and August ANA sales. 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.
