(sold for $22.0)

1673, Spanish Netherlands, Charles II.  Copper "Declaration of War against France" Medal.

Mint Year: 1673 References: Dugn 4310, vL III, 123. Mint Place: Antwerp (privy mark: hand)  Denomination: Medal - Declaration of War against France. Condition: Damaged by two heavy hits in reverse, cleaned at sometime, now lightly retoned, otherwise about VF! Material: Copper Diameter: 31mm Weight: 6.26gm  

Obverse: Draped bust of Charles II right, wearing the Toison d'Or order on his drapery. Legend: CAROL . II . D . G . HISP . ET . INDIAR . REX . 16 (privy mark: hand) 73 .

Reverse: A lion’s paw protruding from claws, holds a sceptre on which a crown is being balanced. Legend: EX . VNGVE . LEONEM . . 16 (privy mark: hand) 73 .

The 1672 to 1678 Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War (French: Guerre de Hollande; Dutch: Hollandse Oorlog), was fought between France and the Dutch Republic. A number of other European states were involved at different times, including the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, England, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Norway. The 1675 to 1679 Scanian War is sometimes considered a related conflict.

The war began when France invaded the Dutch Republic in May 1672 and nearly overran it, an event still referred to in the Netherlands as the Rampjaar or "Disaster Year". Activation of the Dutch Water Line in June halted the French advance and by late July the Dutch position had stabilised, helped by support from Emperor Leopold I, Spain and Prussia. This was formalised in the August 1673 Treaty of The Hague, joined by Lorraine in October, then Denmark–Norway in January 1674.

From 1672 to 1674, England was an ally of France in a naval conflict known as the Third Anglo-Dutch War. The alliance was unpopular with Parliament and in February 1674 England made peace with the Republic in the Treaty of Westminster. In November 1677, William of Orange married his cousin Mary, niece of Charles II of England and England signed a defensive alliance with the Dutch in March 1678. The war ended with the Peace of Nijmegen in September 1678.

France returned Charleroi and Maastricht to Spain and the Dutch Republic respectively, in exchange for Franche-Comté and territories in Artois and Hainaut. This established French borders in the north-east and with Switzerland that have changed little since but Louis XIV continued his quest for control of the Spanish Netherlands and the Rhineland. As a result, William organised an anti-French coalition known as the Grand Alliance which fought in the 1689 to 1697 Nine Years' War.

Charles II (6 November 1661, Madrid – 1 November 1700, Madrid), was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of nearly all of Italy (except Piedmont, the Papal States and the Republic of Venice), the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from Mexico to the Philippines. He is noted for his extensive physical, intellectual, and emotional problems – along with the consequent ineffectual rule – as well as his role in the developments preceding the War of Spanish Succession.