Bremen 1659-TI 2 ducats Fr-411
This specimen was lot 25092 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2023), where it sold for $15,600. The catalog description[1] noted, "Frosty and Choice Multiple Ducat Issue from Bremen, GERMANY. Bremen. 2 Ducats, 1659-TI. Free City. NGC MS-63. In the name of Emperor Leopold I. The first year in a brief, two-year type, this VERY RARE specimen offers a strong and enchanting strike, with a light frosting upon the devices. Meanwhile, the level of detail is quite stunning, making it a phenomenal representative for the advanced collector of world gold. From the Augustana Collection." While there is an extensive series of minor billon coinage from this Hanseatic town on the North Sea, thalers and gold coins are few. This rare double ducat was struck 1659, 1667.
Most Bremen issues were emitted by the free city of Bremen, still today a major port on the North Sea coast of Germany. However, the hinterland formed the archbishopric of Bremen which persisted after the region converted to Lutheranism in the mid-1500's. Finally, as a consequence of the Thirty Years War, the state was secularized and handed over to the king of Sweden and ruled by him until 1719.
Recorded mintage: unknown but rare.
Specification: 7 g, 0.986 fine gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-411; KM-126.
- 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.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The January 2023 NYINC Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Taraszka Collection and the Mark and Dottie Salton Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
Link to: