Item number: A3729

Reference number: KM#35

Year: AD 1789

Material: Gold (.919)

Size: 20.4 x 20.7 mm

Weight: 5.53 g recorded

Manufactured by: Vienna Mint

Provenance: Fuchin Coin 2025

This is a half Souverain d’Or gold coin issued in AD 1789 in the Belgian territories under the rule of the Austrian Habsburgs. In the Low Countries, a half Souverain (S’dor, or Souverain d’Or) was generally reckoned as equivalent to one Ducaton, three Gulden/Florins/Rhine Guilders, sixty Stuivers, one hundred and twenty Groten, two hundred and forty Oorden, four hundred and eighty Duit, two thousand eight hundred and eighty Mijt, one and one quarter Patagon, ten Schellingen, or one and one fifth Albertijn.

The obverse bears a right-facing bust of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, laurel-crowned, with a fillet binding his hair, the tied ends falling over the shoulder. Around the portrait runs the abbreviated Latin titulature “IOSEPH · II · D · G · R · IMP · S · A · GE · HIE · HV · BO · REX ·”, the full form of which is “Iosephus II Dei Gratia Romanorum Imperator Semper Augustus Germaniae Hierosolymorum Hungariae Bohemiae Rex”, signifying “Joseph II, by God’s grace ever-exalted Emperor of the Romans, King of the Germans, King of Jerusalem, Hungary and Bohemia”. The letter “A” below the bust denotes the mint of Vienna.

The reverse displays an oval composite escutcheon of Austria–Lorraine–Burgundy. The shield is parted per pale: on the sinister half, the dexter field shows a horizontal band traversing the shield which, in heraldic tinctures, represents the red field with a silver fess of the Archduchy of Austria; the sinister field bears a bend charged with three alerions, representing the Duchy of Lorraine. The dexter half bears a field filled with multiple diagonal stripes signifying the Duchy of Burgundy. The escutcheon is surmounted by the imperial crown, is enclosed by the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, and is set before two crossed ceremonial batons.

Joseph II was a major ruler of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. From AD 1765 he served as Holy Roman Emperor, and in AD 1780 he inherited the dominions of his mother, Maria Theresa, thus becoming the sole sovereign of the multi-ethnic Habsburg Empire. As a paradigmatic “enlightened absolutist”, he introduced extensive reforms aimed at restructuring the Empire on the basis of rational governance and administrative efficiency. These reforms included religious toleration, the reform of monastic institutions, the abolition of serfdom, the modernisation of the judicial system, and far-reaching administrative centralisation. The rapid pace and wide scope of these changes provoked resistance from nobles, ecclesiastical bodies, and regional estates. Under his rule, tensions between central authority and local autonomy intensified, and many of his reforms were swiftly revoked after his death.

The Austrian Netherlands, under Habsburg rule since AD 1713, preserved the ancient charters and traditions of provincial autonomy belonging to Brabant, Flanders and Burgundy, and maintained a strong sense of local legal and parliamentary privilege. Joseph II attempted to remodel the region according to enlightened absolutist principles, introducing judicial unification, curtailing the powers of the provincial estates, reforming ecclesiastical and educational institutions, and redrawing administrative boundaries. These measures were perceived as direct assaults on historic liberties and local autonomy, provoking fierce opposition. Between AD 1787 and 1789, widespread unrest broke out and culminated in the Brabant Revolution, during which the short-lived United Belgian States briefly emerged. Although Austrian forces temporarily re-established control, Joseph II’s reforms ultimately failed entirely in this region.

物件編號: A3729

參考書目編號: KM#35

年代: 公元 1789 年

材質: 黃金 (919‰)

尺寸: 20.4 x 20.7 mm

重量: 紀載為 5.53 g

製造地: 維也納造幣廠

來源: 福君錢幣 2025

這是一枚公元1789年，奧地利哈布斯堡家族統治下的比利時所發行的半索多爾金幣。在低地地區，一般而言，½索多爾(S’dor, or Souverain d’Or，或譯蘇維林)等於1杜卡通(Ducaton)、3古爾登/荷蘭盾/萊茵盾(Gulden)、60斯圖伊弗(Stuiver)、120格羅特(Grote)、240奧爾登(Oord)、480杜伊滕(Duit)、2880米滕(Mijt)、1¼帕塔貢(Patagon)、10謝林(Schelling)、1⅕阿爾貝廷(Albertijn)。

金幣正面為神聖羅馬帝國皇帝約瑟夫二世的右側半身像，頭戴桂冠，並束有髮帶，髮尾披肩。周圍環繞拉丁簡寫全銜「IOSEPH · II · D · G · R · IMP · S · A · GE · HIE · HV · BO · REX ·」，全稱為「Iosephus II Dei Gratia Romanorum Imperator Semper Augustus Germaniae Hierosolymorum Hungariae Bohemiae Rex」，即「約瑟夫二世，蒙上帝恩典而永受尊崇之羅馬人的皇帝，日耳曼人的國王、耶路撒冷國王、匈牙利國王及波希米亞國王」。人像下方「A」為維也納造幣廠的標記。

金幣背面為奧地利-洛林-勃艮第的橢圓紋章。橢圓紋章呈二分盾徽形式，左半部之左側為為一條橫帶穿過盾面，若在紋章中，則為紅底銀色橫帶，代表奧地利大公國；左半部之右側為斜帶上的三隻飛鷹，代表洛林公國；右半部為框內的多條斜紋，代表勃艮第公國。盾徽頂飾為帝國皇冠，盾緣旁懸掛著金羊毛騎士團鍊章，後方則有交叉的儀杖。

約瑟夫二世是哈布斯堡—洛林王朝的重要君主，自公元1765年起任神聖羅馬帝國皇帝，並自公元1780年起繼承母親瑪麗亞·特蕾西婭的領地，成為哈布斯堡多民族帝國的唯一統治者。作為典型的「開明專制君主」，他推行一系列深度改革，包括宗教寬容、修道院改革、廢除農奴制、司法制度近代化與行政集權化，旨在以理性與國家效率為核心重塑帝國。然而，他的改革速度過快、範圍過廣，引發各地貴族、教會與地方團體的強烈抵制。約瑟夫二世統治期間，帝國內政與地方自治的張力加劇，最終使部分改革在其逝世後被迅速撤回。

奧屬尼德蘭自公元1713年起由哈布斯堡家族統治，當地沿襲布拉邦、法蘭德斯與勃艮第的古老憲章與地方自治傳統，具有強烈的地方法律與議會意識。約瑟夫二世試圖以開明專制的理念改造這片領地，包括統一司法制度、削弱傳統省議會權力、改革教會與教育機構、重繪行政區劃等，這些措施被視為對地方自治與歷史特權的直接挑戰，引發強烈反彈。公元1787至1789年間，奧屬尼德蘭爆發大規模抗爭並最終演變為「布拉邦革命」（Brabant Revolution），甚至一度成立短命的「比利時合眾國」。雖然奧地利軍隊短暫重掌控制，但約瑟夫二世的改革在該地最終全面失敗。