The Siege of Landau

Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 1277. Estimate $2000.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $1200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GERMANY, Landau. AR 1 Gulden 4 Kreuzer Klippe (10.45 g). Siege issue. Dated 1713. In central stamp: crowned ducal coat-of-arms of Württemburg-Winnental, framed by Jagdorden, C• A• H• Z• W• around, I V • across field, 17 13 below; in upper stamp: PRO/CAES : & IMP: in two lines; in lower stamp: BEL : LANDAU/1. FL : 4 x. in two lines; in corner stamps: crowned CA monogram / Blank. Klein & Raff 221.1; cf. Davenport 2377; Mailliet 7. EF, toned.

Ex J.D. Lasser Collection; Virgil Brand Collection of German Coins (Part 4, Leu 69, 5 June 1997), lot 4626; purchased from S.C. Stevens, August 1895.

During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), France fought against the forces of the Austrian Habsburgs to protect its claims on Spanish lands after the death of the Spanish king Charles II. Several nations, including England and the United Netherlands, joined Austria against the powerful French forces. Landau, a fortified town located in modern southwest Germany, was besieged by one of the most prominent figures of the war, Claude Louis Hector de Villars, Marshal General of France. Duke Carl Alexander of Württemburg defended the town, which fell to the French on 20 August 1713. Soon after, Villars himself negotiated the Treaty of Rastatt, ending hostilities between King Louis XIV of France and Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI of Austria. A series of klippes was produced by Landau during the French siege, likely cut from the silver plate of the town’s rich citizens.