Austria 1655 10 ducats Fr-209
The first specimen was lot 30109 in Heritage auction 3096 (Dallas, TX, March 2021), where it sold for $60,000. The catalog description[1] noted,
"A Splendid Series Rarity Scarcely Encountered at Auction. Austria - Ferdinand III gold 10 Ducat 1655-(c) UNC Details (Reverse Damage) NGC, Vienna mint. Jan Conrad Richthausen as mintmaster. Dated reworked from 1654. Struck from the same dies as the 20 Ducat, also in this sale. A piece which eludes all attempts at a description that can fully do justice to its true rarity. Working from extent auction records over the past 20 years, together with catalogs of major collections, we have been able to trace only three examples offered in the last decade and a half--one from Hess-Divo's April 2008 Auction 309 (lot 730), one from Numismatica Ars Classica's January 2005 Auction 28 (lot 91), and one from Rauch's May 2010 Auction 86 (lot 3778). What is perhaps even more telling, however, is the number of major collections that did not include a specimen, to which we can enumerate Adolph Hess's 1911 sale of Hermitage duplicates, the Horsky, Julius, and Reichel Collections, and Hess-Leu's October 1962 Goldprägungen auction. One of two designs employed for this date, the other showing a large shield surmounted by a crown and ringed with the Order of the Golden Fleece, though both were struck from the same obverse die, this particular emission has the trait of being minted with a reverse unique to the gold types of this date. Any explanation for the exact purposes for which such a coin might have been produced continue to puzzle us. The fact that the reverse die of the other 1655 10 Ducat extends back to 1651, together with the reworked date, may suggest that the design was initially conceived during Ferdinand's summoning of the Reichstag, where he postponed constitutional questions he considered dangerous to his power and had his son elected as King of the Romans in 1653 (though he died in 1654). Whether or not such a broad gold multiple would have been meant to convey a sense of the Emperor's grandeur and royalty before the Perpetual Reichstag assumed a great deal more authority is hard to know for certain, though we can remark on the majesty and resolve depicted for the aging Ferdinand. From the Paramount Collection."
The second specimen was lot 1417 in Sincona sale 76 (Zürich, May 2022), where it sold for 100,000 CHF (about US$121,380 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[2] noted,
"HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE - AUSTRIA. Ferdinand III. 1637-1657. 10 Dukaten 1655, Wien. Jahreszahl im Stempel aus 1654 geändert. Münzmeister J. C. Richthausen. Äusserst selten. Vorzüglich-FDC. NGC MS61. Prachtvolle Erhaltung. (Holy Roman Empire, Ferdinand III, 1637-57, ten ducats of 1655, Vienna mint, 1655/4 overdate. Extremely rare, Extremely fine-uncirculated, Magnificent condition.)"
This product of the Vienna mint was struck in 1655. A similar issue of 1645, listed by Friedberg as Fr-209, is catalogued in the SCWC as KM 926.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 35 g, 0.986 fine gold, the first specimen 34.31 g, the second specimen 34.35 g.
Catalog reference: KM 993, Fr-209, Horsky-Unl., Julius-Unl., Reichel Collection-Unl., MzA-153, Herinek-20.
- 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.
- [2]Richter, Jürg, SINCONA Auction 76, The Annemarie and Gerd Köhlmoos Collection, Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2022..
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