Albania 1926-R 100 franga ari
This specimen was lot 23001 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2023), where it sold for $3,360. The catalog description[1] noted, "ALBANIA. 100 Franga Ari, 1926-R. Rome Mint. Ahmet Zogu (as President). NGC MS-62. No stars beneath bust variety. An always demanded type, this exhilarating and massive gold piece delivers a satiny and reflective appeal to the surfaces that avoid harsh marking. A limited amount of friction is noted for completeness, though this gets lost in the brilliant luster. A superb European treasure, and one that should excite any collector looking for an example of the type. From the Star City Homer Collection." This coin, strictly a vanity piece, was struck to the standard of a pre-WWI Italian hundred lire or French hundred francs. Varieties exist with one or two stars below Zogu's bust; these are priced slightly higher.
Recorded mintage: 6,614.
Specification: 32.25 g, 0.900 fine gold, 0.9334 troy oz AGW, 35 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: Fr-1; KM-11.1.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The January 2023 NYINC Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Taraszka Collection and the Mark and Dottie Salton Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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