Los 3572

Siege coinage - 40 stuiver 1582 on square tin flan (vG 174 / Vanhoudt 554) - 21.03 gram - Obv. arms of Oudenaarde in circle, date below SPES NOSTRA DEVS - Punch 2 city-seal above / Rev. Blank - XF, minor corrosion - extremely rare and never offered by us before - After conquering the city of Doornik in the last months of 1581, the prince of Parma turned his sights on Oudenaarde. The city was surrounded by Spanish forces in early april 1582 and after an intense siege capitulated 3 months later. Tin siege coinage was produced to appease the defenders of the city that were threatening with mutiny. Nowadays, these siege pieces prove somewhat problematic. Due to the nature of the coinage and the subsequent rampant production of forgeries, restrikes and fantasies, the numismatic community is unable to prove the status of many of these tin pieces. The 40 stuiver on offer here, as well as the two lower denominations in this auction, present themselves congruently with the pieces commonly listed in the literature, though the attribution of the series remains problematic - NGC Not encapuslated, no decision (8362783-001)