The Siege of Landau

Sale: Triton X, Lot: 925. Estimate $1500.  Closing Date: Monday, 8 January 2007.  Sold For $2000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GERMANY, Landau. AR 1 Florin 4 Kreuzer Klippe (10.52 g). Siege coinage. Dated 1713. In central stamp: crowned coat of arms, C• A• H• Z• W• around, 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 monogram / Blank. Mailliet 7; cf. Davenport 2377; KM 12. EF.

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.