Patagon 1666 (vGH 350-5 / Delm. 345 R2 / Vanhoudt 698 R4) - 27.55 gram - Obv. Knotty cross below crown / Rev. Crowned arms with Golden Fleece - VF - RRRR - only 4 pieces known - _x000D_ Coins of Charles II struck in Tournai are extremely rare. Hoc knew of only two examples, a patagon from 1666 and another from 1667. This rarity can be explained by the historical and economic context. After the death of Philip IIII on 17 September 1665, the crown of Spain went to his young son Charles II, barely 4 years old, who was inaugurated in Tournai on 24 February 1666. However, Louis XIV claimed rights over the Spanish Netherlands in the name of his wife Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV's first marriage, while Charles II was born of a second marriage. The so-called "War of Devolution" broke out in 1667 and quickly turned to the advantage of France, which benefited from an overwhelming military superiority. The French army successively occupied several important places, including Lille, Courtrai, Charleroi and Ath. As for the city of Tournai, it capitulated on June 25, 1667, after a few days of siege. The War of Devolution ended in 1668 with the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, which confirmed Louis XIV's possession of the conquered territories in the Spanish Netherlands. Following the French conquest, the Tournai mint was closed. According to contemporary sources, minting had become derisory, the city being "embarrassed in its finances, anemic in its resources, diminished in its population, undermined in its trade". A text from 1664 indicates that "there is very little work in said coinage because the bars [of metal] do not come there" (RBN 1932, page 30) - of the highest rarity and never offered by us before