Very Early Dutch Silver Coin

Welcome, frank wasson! What's your main emphasis in coin collecting? I am subscribing to this thread. I'll definitely learn something.

Spence has hit the nail on the head! No king is named on the coin, instead we only see his titles. On the reverse DVX BRABANTIE can be seen, Duke of Brabant. The obverse shows something peculiar. While it isn't that readable on this coin here, a complete specimen will have DVX LIMBURGIE around the shield. This refers to a very interesting period in Dutch history. Initially the duchies of Limburg and Brabant (today they are also separate provinces within the Netherlands by the way) were separate and rivalling duchies. Jan I came to power in Brabant in 1267 and proved himself a very capable ruler (quite a relief from the bunch of mentally unstable dukes that had come before him), enlarging the territories of Brabant significantly. It has been said that he was loved amongst the people for his bravery, generosity and love of beer; today we still have a brand of beer named after him!

A great opportunity presented itself in 1283. The duke of Limburg had died four years prior and had left his dukedom to his daughter, who in term was married to the count of Gelria. But in 1283 his daughter also died and the war of Limburgian succession had begun. You see, both the brother of the deceased duke and the husband of the deceased daughter claimed they had the right to succeed to the Limburgian throne. The brother, having no army or economic force to claim the Duchy as his, instead sold his right of inheritance to another, who just so happened to be Jan I of the neighbouring Brabant. Gelria was not a minor duke however, but neither was the duke of Brabant, and a full on war, lasting five years, began between the two and their respective allies. On the fifth of June 1288 this would end in one of the bloodiest battles in medieval Dutch history: the battle of Woeringen. Around 4000 knights would battle for the entire day, of which more than a quarter was killed by nightfall. Jan of Brabant would eventually be victorious, and the duchy of Limburg was his, a turning point in medieval Dutch history, as the two duchies of Limburg and Brabant would remain unified under a single crowns until they fell to the Burgundians in 1406.

This is where this coin comes in. Both the titles of Duke of Limburg and Brabant can be seen on the coin, and it thus dates post-June fifth 1288. The obverse also shows a shield composed of two lions: the left one for the dukedom of Brabant, the one on the right for the dukedom of Limburg. The previous generation of scholars thought this type belonged to the successor and son of Jan I, Jan II, but recent scholarship has confirmed it is indeed a sterling from Jan I, minted between 1288 and his death in 1296 in Bonn (Spence already mentioned so!). There are two major reverse varieties, those with 'trees' in the four quadrants (this is probably not the correct terminiology, but come on. They sure look like little trees!) and those with rosettes in the four quadrants. Yours of course belonging to the latter, slightly more rare, category. Sweet coin! Medieval Dutch coins are so freakin awesome! (Said the Dutchman. ;))

Thank you very kindly for the comprehensive, in-depth responses received. They have indeed been very helpful and insightful.