Courland 1780 ducat Fr-4
This specimen was lot 30375 in Heritage sale 3040 (Chicago, April 2015), where it sold for $5,757.50. The catalog description[1] noted, "Courland. Peter Biron gold Ducat 1780 MS61 PCGS, A handsome one-year type with lustrous, ambered surfaces and semi-prooflike fields. Featuring the bust of Peter Biron, the last duke of the Duchy of Courland, and two oval shields with a laurel branch and crown above. Well-struck and extremely pleasing, this present offering is currently the finest-known certified example of this type, with only two other specimens graded, both in an AU designation. Rare as such." Peter Biron was a puppet of Catherine the Great and was installed in Courland (now western Latvia) to assure continued Russian domination of the Baltic states and northeast Poland.
Recorded mintage: unknown but rare.
Specification: 3.50 grams, 0.986 fine gold, .110 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: KM 33, Fr-4.
- [1]Bierrenbach, Cristiano, Warren Tucker and David Michaels, Heritage Signature Auction 3040, featuring the Santa Maria, the Alan Dean and the Valley View Life Collections, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 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.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
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