Belgium (Brabant): gold florin (Carolus d’or) of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, ca. 1521-1545

lordmarcovan

Belgium (Brabant): gold florin (Carolus d’or) of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, ca. 1521-1545

Obverse: KAROLVS.D.G.ROM.IMP.E.HISPAN.REX, crowned half-bust, sword in right hand, globus cruciger in left.
Reverse: DA.M[ICHI].VIRTVT[EM].CONTRA.HOSTES.TVOS, arms of Austria and Castile-León with double-headed eagle above.
Translation of reverse legend: “Give me strength against thine enemies”.

Delmonte-101, gold, 23 mm. Ex-Numiscorner (Comptoir des Monnaies, France), through VCoins store, 11/18/2016.

This is a handsome piece of Renaissance-era hammered gold. Though in moderate circulated grade, it exhibits attractive, contrasting toning and an interesting design. It was struck at Antwerp (Anvers) in the duchy of Brabant (now part of modern-day Belgium), under the authority of Charles V of the Habsburg dynasty. Charles V was Holy Roman Emperor and thereby ruler of a huge portion of Europe as well as the Spanish Empire and its overseas colonies in the Americas and Asia. His domains were the first to be described as "an empire on which the sun never sets", a phrase which was later used to describe the British empire in the 19th century.

asheland

Very nice!

Orfew

That is a lovely piece.

WillieBoyd2

Nice coin!

I like the obverse design especially, King Charles presenting a choice of his religion or the sword.

SaorAlba

Love really old gold, imagine how much dosh that represented back in the day.

Swampboy

Love it!

pmac

I love your eclectic style of collecting, getting interesting pieces from all over the world from anytime in the past. You have done a great job of giving us a taste of your coin's history. Thanks for sharing a piece of the renaissance.

lordmarcovan

@pmac said:
I love your eclectic style of collecting, getting interesting pieces from all over the world from anytime in the past. You have done a great job of giving us a taste of your coin's history. Thanks for sharing a piece of the renaissance.

Thanks very much. I live for compliments like that.

lordmarcovan

@WillieBoyd2 said:
Nice coin!

I like the obverse design especially, King Charles presenting a choice of his religion or the sword.

I never really thought about it that way. Interesting. I note that the sword is in his right hand, too. By contrast, the American eagle keeps its weaponry (arrows) in its left (talon). I believe this is to symbolize peaceful intentions- the eagle clutches the olive branch in its supposedly stronger, more commonly-used hand (or talon, as the case may be).

Unless Charles V was a leftie, his armament being in the right hand is a rather warlike sign. But an appropriate sign of the times, I suppose. Both war and religion (and wars about religion) were important considerations in the 16th century. Still are, of course, but with all that Protestant Reformation stuff going on, it was a fractious time in Europe when this coin was struck.

WillieBoyd2

Charles' Catholic empire also had a long-running war with Suleiman the Magnificent's Islamic Ottoman Empire.

Suleiman was also making gold coins of a size similar to Charles' efforts.

Ottoman Empire Gold Sultani of Suleiman The Magnificent (AD 1520-1566)

Obverse: Arabic inscription
Sultan Suleiman Shah son of Sultan Selim Shah, May his Victory be Glorious,
Struck in Misr (Egypt) Year 926 (Suleiman's accession year, AD 1520)
Reverse: Arabic inscription
Striker of the Glittering, Master of Might, Victory, and of Land and the Sea
Size: 20mm, weight: 3.5gm