Bern ND 4 ducats Fr-117
This specimen was lot 1157 in Sincona Auction 100 (Zürich, October 2025), where it sold for 65,000 CHF (about US$97,968 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCHWEIZ Bern, Stadt und Kanton, 4 Dukaten o. J. (16. Jhdt.), Bern. Vom Stempel des Dickens o. J. MONETA.NO.BERNENSIS Nach links schreitender Bär, darüber ein kleiner Doppeladler. Rv. .DVX./.BERCHT./.ZERINGE./CONDITO./.BERNENS./ANNO:D./.1191. in sieben Zeilen. Glatter Rand. Von grösster Seltenheit. Einziges bekanntes Exemplar. (Switzerland, canton of Bern, undated four ducats, sixteenth century, Bern mint. struck using dicken dies. Obverse: a bear strides left under a small double headed eagle; reverse: inscription. Plain edge, Of the highest rarity, The only known specimen, PCGS AU55.)"
We have a number of Bernese dickens posted here. While they share the obverse design of a striding bear under an eagle, we don't see any with an inscription on the reverse. Catalog number HMZ 2-172a, for which we lack an image, may have been the model.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 14 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 14.13 g.
Catalog reference: Lohner see 259 (as a six ducats), Rickli 116, Anm. Richter (Proben) 1-144. HMZ 2-172a (in silver), Anm. Fr-117 (as a three ducats).
- 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.
- 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.
- [1]Richter, Jürg, SINCONA Auction 100: SINCONA Jubilee Auction, Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2025.
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