Czechoslovakia 1937 dukat
This specimen was lot 30104 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Chicago, August 2022), where it sold for $22,800. The catalog description[1] noted, "CZECHOSLOVAKIA. Ducat, 1937. Kremnica Mint. NGC MS-64. One of the RAREST and most desired dates in the modern Czechoslovakian series, this near-Gem Ducat provides an enticing and seldom encountered opportunity for the specialist. Sunny and lustrous, the surfaces ooze with attractivity and are only mildly contacted. Resolute details grace the flan, with no evidence of strike defect on this modern beauty. Produced in the stormy prelude to the Second World War, this issue was severely limited in mintage, and the survival rates of this piece are paltry, being only surpassed in elusiveness by the 1938, 1939, and 1951 Ducat issues. A coin that stands near the pinnacle of modern Ducat issues, and we expect fierce competition for this example. From the Augustana Collection." This type was struck 1923-39 and 1951 along with a two dukaty, five dukatu and ten dukatu. This type is rarely seen circulated, suggesting the hoarding of what few examples escaped government vaults. The obverse portrait is of "good" king Wenceslas, he of the well-known Christmas carol.
Recorded mintage: 324.
Specification: 3.49 g, 0.986 fine gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-2; KM-8; Novotny-16 (RRR).
- 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, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The 2022 ANA Auction - Ancients & World Coins - Featuring The Salton Collection Part III, the Augustana Collection and the Robert C. Knepper Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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