Breslau 1553 ducat Fr-445
This specimen was lot 3254 in Goldberg sale 85 (Los Angeles, June 2015), where it sold for $1,469. The catalog description[1] noted, "German States: Breslau. Ducat, 1553. City coinage. Arms. Reverse: St. Wenceslas. NGC graded About Uncirculated, Details (Excessive Surface Hairlines)." This type is listed in Friedberg for 1531-60. Breslau issued coins in the name of the city (as here), the bishop and the emperor. The Hapsburgs acquired Silesia in 1526 as part of the Bohemian inheritance, the king having died fighting the Turks. It took them over a century to consolidate their control of the province, which had turned mostly Lutheran, and many local lords and towns continued to mint coins.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.5 g, 0.986 fine gold.
Catalog reference: KM MB64, Fr-445.
- Cuhaj, George S., Thomas Michael and Douglas Nicol, Standard Catalog of German Coins, 1501-Present, 3rd Ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- [1]Goldberg, Ira, Larry Goldberg, Aleeza Brown, Yifu Che, Jason Villareal and Stephen Harvey, Goldberg Sale 85: the Pre-Long Beach Auction, Los Angeles: Goldberg Coins and Collectibles, 2015.
- 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.
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