Bamberg 1600 ducat Fr-160
This specimen was lot 6462 in Künker sale 336 (Osnabrück, Germany, March 2020), where it sold for €12,000 (about US$15,703 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BAMBERG, BISTUM, Johann Philipp von Gebsattel, 1599-1609. Dukat 1600, Nürnberg. Krone über den Wappenschilden von Bamberg und Gebsattel//Gekrönter Kaiser Heinrich II. und Kaiserin Kunigunde halten Modell der Domkirche, unten kleiner Wappenschild von Gebsattel. GOLD. Von großer Seltenheit. Winz. Randfehler, fast vorzüglich. (Germany, bishopric of Bamberg, John Philip of Gebsattel, 1599-1609, ducat of 1600, Nuremberg mint. Obverse: crowned arms of Bamberg and Gebsattel; reverse: crowned emperor Henry II and empress Kunigunde hold a model of the cathedral, small shield below. Very rare, rim defects, about extremely fine.)"
John Philip's successor, Johan Gottfried, initiated the Counterreformation in the bishopric as well as a series of spectacular witch trials that even claimed the mayor of Bamberg. The bishopric was devastated during the Thirty Years War and the bishops did not return until 1648. Many of the bishops also held the see of Würzburg. The bishopric was secularized and annexed to Bavaria in 1803.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.50 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 3,48 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-160; Krug 208.
- 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.
- [1]Künker Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Catalog 336: Gold coins from all over the World|German Coins after 1871. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2020.
Link to: