10 euro coin Belgium 2023 ‘Hanseatic Cities in Belgium’ Silver Proof PF 70

Hanseatic cities in Belgium

Did you know that the trade network of the Hanseatic League stretched across more than 200 cities in Europe: from small, charming provincial towns to proud metropolises that still count in today's international trade? Just think of Hamburg, Cologne and Frankfurt... Stockholm in Sweden or Krakow in Poland... or - closer to us – the Dutch city of Kampen and our very own Venice of the North: romantic Bruges!

Like our Guilds back then, the purpose of the Hanseatic League was to form an alliance between practitioners of the same economic activity: in this case, the German merchants who traded around the Baltic Sea and neighboring areas in northern Europe. In this way, they could better defend their commercial interests, offer more resistance against greedy princes and also adequately protect themselves against piracy and other misfortunes. Unity makes power, and this had long been understood - even in the Middle Ages.

Belgium's Hanseatic League of Four

As a thriving commercial city, Bruges enjoyed the rare honour of running one of the Hanseatic League's four kontors. This trading office also acted as a kind of foreign chamber of commerce and even had consular powers. However, with the silting up of the Zwin, the significance of Bruges as a priority location diminished and in 1520 the office was moved to Antwerp. In 1564, the stately Hansa House arose there, but it quickly lost its function as a trading centre when our Scheldt city fell prey to the Spanish Furie.

As for our Artevelde city, thanks to its particularly flourishing cloth industry, Ghent would grow into one of the richest cities in Europe in the Middle Ages and, in the process... a valued member of the German Hanseatic League! The Walloon town of Dinant received the same honour thanks to its strategic location on the Meuse and the flourishing trade route connecting Cologne and Paris.

A silver coin that fully reflects our prestigious past

On the obverse you will find a creative composition of visual elements that give an impression of what was shipped and traded along the Hanseatic routes: leather and animal skins, hops, beer and wine, salt and spices, fish, grains and beeswax, wood and cloth... From the map depicting the Hanseatic region, a cog ship sails across the choppy bars. A 13th-century coin from Bruges symbolises trade and merit. An icon of the Bruges Belfry emphasises the importance of the Belgian Hanseatic cities and the prosperity they brought.

The reverse shows King Philip looking to the right, his monogram and the year 2023 in an eleven-sided form. In the outer ring: the country name in three languages, the mint mark, the

inscription ‘10 EURO’, the Mint Master’s mark and the initials LL of the designer

Luc Luycx. Add to this the stylish cassette and you have in your hands a precious numismatic gem that you will love to add to your personal collection... or that of someone close to you!