Did you know that shortly after the American Revolution and almost concurrently with the French Revolution, there was also a revolution in what is current-day Belgium?

The United States of Belgium (guess whose homework they copied) were a short-lived state in the southern Netherlands. As opposed to the French, US and other contemporary revolutions, this one was a bit more complicated since it was actually a counter-revolution, a return to catholic doctrine rather than protestant. This explains the heavily religious themes of the coin.

At the end of the 18th century, resistance arose against the reforms of Emperor Joseph II, leading to the Brabant Revolution (1789-1790) and the establishment of the United Belgian States. During this brief period of independence, the states decided to mint a number of coins, as this would help to legitimize the uprising and give it further weight. Among other coins, they decided to mint this silver lion. Together with the gold lion, it is one of the most beautiful and sought-after coins in the numismatic world. They remained in circulation for only a very short time, as the Austrians returned in December 1790.

This silver coin of 3 florins, dated 1790, commemorates the Brabant Revolution and shows the Brabant lion on the front, accompanied by the inscription ‘domini est regnum’ (The kingdom belongs to the Lord) and the year 1790. The reverse of the coin is decorated with the coats of arms of the rebellious states: Brabant, Limburg, Hainaut, Guelders, Luxembourg, Flanders, West Flanders, Namur, Tournai, and Mechelen. Also present is the Latin Christian motto ‘Et ipse dominabitur gentium’, which can be translated as ‘and he himself will rule over the peoples’.