Brunswick-Blankenburg 1726 1/2 ducat Fr-689
This specimen was lot 5201 in Künker sale 354 (Osnabrück, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €3,200 (about US$4,454 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRAUNSCHWEIG UND LÜNEBURG, BRAUNSCHWEIG-WOLFENBÜTTEL, FÜRSTENTUM, Ludwig Rudolf, 1731-1735, seit 1714 in Blankenburg. 1/2 Dukat 1726, Nürnberg. GOLD. Prachtexemplar. Fast Stempelglanz. Aus der Sammlung eines Ingenieurs. Exemplar der Auktion Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. 373, Frankfurt/Main 2002, Nr. 2586. (Germany, duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Louis Rudolf, 1731-35, duke of Brunswick-Blankenburg since 1714, half ducat of 1726, Nurnberg mint. Choice example, about uncirculated.)"
The duchy of Brunswick-Blankenburg was carved out of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel for Ludwig Rudolf in 1714. He ruled it and issued coins for it until 1731, when he succeeded to Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel and merged the two states back together. This half ducat was struck in Nuremberg for the duke in 1726-27 along with a half ducat featuring the "wild man" (KM 37). We don't know why Ludwig Rudolf didn't use the regular Brunswick mints of Zellerfeld, Goslar or Clausthal.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.75 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 1.74 g.
Catalog reference: KM 26, Fr-689; Welter 2449.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Künker Auktion 354: Munzen und Medaillen aus Mittelalter und Neuzeit u. a. Braunschweig-Luneburg. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2021.
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