Bern 1501 5 ducats Fr-104
This specimen was lot 21420 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2020), where it sold for $36,000. The catalog description[1] noted, "Massive and Extremely Rare Bern 5 Ducats. Plated in Friedberg. SWITZERLAND. Bern. 5 Ducats, 1501. NGC VF Details--Mount Removed. Obverse: SANCTVS VINCENEIVS, St. Vincent standing left, holding Gospels and quill; all within polylobe; Reverse: Bear left below double eagle; seven coats-of-arms around; additional 20 coats-of-arms in outer border. An incredibly massive and EXTREMELY RARE gold issue, this weighty piece features a fairly early date for a coin of its metal while also serving as one of the last appearances of purely Catholic religious iconography in the coinage of a Canton soon to be dominated by Calvin and Zwingli during the struggles of the Reformation. Its only real detraction is its prior use as a jewelry piece, as evidenced by some work around the edge and rims. Nevertheless, its presence today could very well be due to this 'safekeeping' in jewelry, as there would have been numerous opportunities for it to have been melted down for recoining or other purposes over the centuries. Ex: Stack's (1/2008) Lot # 3364. Ex: LHS 95 (10/2005) Lot # 350. Ex: SBV-Basel 5 (1977) Lot # 355." Altho the Swiss cantons had won de facto independence from the Empire by the late fifteenth century, the fact was not officially recognized until 1648, when the confederation left the empire by the treaties of Westphalia which ended the Thirty Years War. This rare type was accompanied by ten, nine, eight and six ducats.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 17.5 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 41 mm diameter, 17.3 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-104 (this coin plated); HMZ-Unlisted.
- Richter, Jürg, and Ruedi Kunzmann, Neuer HMZ-Katalog, Band 2: Die Münzen der Schweiz und Liechtensteins 15//16. Jahrhundert bis Gegenwart, Regenstauf, Germany: H. Gietl Verlag GmbH, 2006.
- 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]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The January 2020 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2019.
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