Bremen 1667-TI ducat Fr-412
This specimen was lot 1508 in Künker Auction 425 (Osnabrück, July 2025), where it sold for €3,000 (about US$4,248 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"DEUTSCHE MÜNZEN UND MEDAILLEN · BREMEN, STADT Dukat 1667, mit Titel Leopolds I. Zwei Löwen halten das gekrönte Stadtwappen, unten zu den Seiten die Signatur T - I (Thomas Isenbein, Münzmeister in Bremen 1634-1669)//Der gekrönte Kaiser steht r., mit der Rechten das Zepter schulternd, in der erhobenen Linken Reichsapfel. GOLD. Von großer Seltenheit. Leicht gewellt, sehr schön. Exemplar der Auktion Fritz Rudolf Künker 144, Osnabrück 2008, Nr. 4532. (Germany, city of Bremen, ducat of 1667, struck in the name of Leopold I. Obverse: two lions support the city arms, initials below; reverse: the crowned emperor stands right, holding a scepter and an orb. Extremely rare, slightly wavy, very fine.)"
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. 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 type was also struck in 1659.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.49 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 3,41 g.
Catalog reference: KM 125, Fr-412; Jungk 424.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- 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]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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