Bavaria 1793-HS ducat Fr-250
This specimen was lot 1467 in Künker Auction 425 (Osnabrück, July 2025), where it sold for €11,000 (about US$15,576 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"DEUTSCHE MÜNZEN UND MEDAILLEN · BAYERN, HERZOGTUM, SEIT 1623 KURFÜRSTENTUM, SEIT 1806 KÖNIGREICH Karl Theodor, 1777-1799. Dukat 1793, München. Donaugold. Büste r. mit zusammengebundenen Haaren, darunter die Signatur H · S · (Johann Heinrich Straub, Stempelschneider in München 1761-1782)//Der Flußgott der Donau lagert nach l. und entleert mit der Rechten eine Wasserurne, mit der Linken hält er das dreifeldige pfalz-bayerische Wappen, neben seinen Füßen Schilf; im Abschnitt die römische Jahreszahl MDCCXCIII ·. GOLD. Von großer Seltenheit. Winz. Kratzer, vorzüglich-Stempelglanz. (Germany, electorate of Bavaria, Charles Theodore, 1777-99, ducat of 1793, Munich mint, gold from the Danube. obverse: bust right, hair tied with a ribbon, initials below; reverse: the Danube river god, seated left on the arms of Pfalz and Bavaria, pours water from an urn, Roman numeral date below. Extremely rare, light hairlines, extremely fine to uncirculated.)"
The elector took the trouble in 1793 to mint ducats celebrating gold from the Inn (Fr-251) and the Isar (Fr-252) as well as the Danube. This type was struck previously 1779-80. River panning was never very productive, so the mintages are low. The enterprise was abandoned altogether in the mid-nineteenth century.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.49 g, 0.937 fine gold, this specimen 3,46 g.
Catalog reference: KM 424, Fr-250; Hahn 355.
- 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, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 425: Gold coins from the Medieval and Modern Times, from the Mohr family collection, e.g. | Silver coins, e.g. highlights of medallic art | German coins after 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2025.
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