Austria (1663) 20 ducats Fr-251
This specimen was lot 30113 in Heritage auction 3096 (Dallas, TX, March 2021), where it sold for $180,000. The catalog description[1] noted,
"A Potentially Unique Weight for this Utterly Scarce "Special" Emission of Sigismund Franz. Austria - Archduke Sigismund Franz gold Medallic 20 Ducat ND (c. 1663) MS61 NGC, Hall mint. By Matthias König. An issue of both immense visual and historical status, almost certainly standing as the largest type--monetary or medallic--produced during Sigismund Franz's brief reign from 1662 until 1665. Assuming rule of Tirol upon the death of his elder brother, Archduke Ferdinand Karl, although Sigismund had never intended to rule and pursued an ecclesiastical path, he set about curbing mismanagement and excessive bureaucracy in his realm. Further seeking to reform the monetary system, he proceeded with undoing his brother's policies that had put the operations of the Hall mint on hold, except for the production of numerous special-occasion issues. Although Talers of his reign are quite scant in their own right, Moser and Tursky record that only 2 "special" medallic types were produced under his oversight (figures 526 and 527), which also exist in gold strikings. Both soundly have been said to have come from the hand of Matthias König, who Forrer states retired on a yearly pension of 367 florins in March 1663. This strongly points to a period of production for the present specimen during that year, as Moser and Tursky write that his pension was raised to that amount from 200 florins in April 1663 in concordance with Sigismund's desire to see to the fair payment of his officials. This offering can only be regarded as of the highest rarity, if not downright unique in this weight. Not only missing from auction records of recent years, we note that the type was also completely absent from the Horsky and Julius collections, with the 1901 Katalog der Müzen- und Medaillen-Stempel-Sammlung des k. k. Hauptmünzamtes in Wien also making no mention whatsoever to such a piece. Appearing soundly Mint State with only minimal, grade-aligning chatter in the fields, we fully expect this selection to find a place of the utmost prominence in its next owner's cabinet. From the Paramount Collection."
The archduke was one of the last Hapsburgs to exercise the mintage right without being emperor himself. His line lapsed with his death in 1665 and his holdings fell to the emperor Leopold.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 70 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 69.26 g.
Catalog reference: KM-Unl., Fr-251 (Very Rare), Horsky-Unl., Julius-Unl., cf. Moser-Tursky-pg. 299, Fig. 526 (composition not stated, though off-metal strikes in 12 ducat weight are cited in the text).
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- 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.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- [1]Bierrenbach, Cristiano and Warren Tucker, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3096, featuring the Paramount Collection of World & Ancient Coins, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2021.
Link to: