Denmark 1496 noble Fr-3
This specimen was lot 1001 in Stack's Bowers sale of the L. E. Bruun Collection (Copenhagen, September 2024), where it sold for €1,200,000 (about US$1,329,840 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"A Coin of the Highest Importance, a Hans Noble! Unique in Private Hands with Only a Few in Public Collections. DENMARK. Noble, 1496. Malmö or Copenhagen Mint. Hans. NGC AU-55. UNIQUE in private hands with only 2 in museums, the National Museum of Denmark and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg; a third, unconfirmed example in a European museum is rumored to exist.
The jewel in the crown of any collection of Scandinavian numismatics, being one of the oldest Scandinavian gold coins, the first dated Scandinavian coin (not counting the mysterious Danish 1234 Penny) and one of the most beautiful Gothic coins produced in Scandinavia. To say that the condition of this example is beautiful would be a severe understatement for a large sized gold coin from the late 15th century. The strike is perfect, the many intricate details are clearly visible, the flan is even, traces of original luster abound, and no traces of mounting are to be found. In short, an almost unbelievable survival from the late middle-ages, and just as worthy in a collection of medieval art as in a coin collection.
Of all the Danish Nobles struck between 1496 and 1532 for the kings, Hans, Christian II, and Frederik I only 20 remain, most of them in the National Museum of Denmark. The model for the design was clearly the 'Real d'Or', struck in Dordrecht, for the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I (1490-1519). The obverse legend is however an unusual example where the coin itself seems to be talking: IOhS' DEI GRA REX DANOR' IVSSIT ME FIERI AN'1496 ("Hans, by the Grace of God, King of the Danes, ordered me struck in the year 1496"). The religious reverse inscription: DEXTERA DNI' EXALTAt ME DEXTRA DNI' FECIT VIRTV' is taken from Psalm 118:16 of the Bible ("The Lord's right hand is lifted high; the Lord's right hand has done mighty things!"). Although the exact reason for minting this Noble is unknown, it seems likely that it was struck for the king's personal use as a gift for foreign dignitaries at a prominent courtly event in Denmark or abroad.
The gold for this emission was partly obtained from loans from German princes partly from the Sound Dues (Øresundstolden). This tax, which was collected at Elsinore (Helsingør) where Eric of Pomerania had built a castle in the 1420s, meant that all foreign ships with the intention of passing through the strait between Zeeland (Sjælland) and Scania (Skåne) had to pay a toll of one English Noble to the Danish king. In the mid 19th century this piece was owned by the internationally famous antiquarian, numismatist and director of the National Museum of Denmark, Christian Jurgensen Thomsen (1788-1865), who is considered the originator of the three-age system of European antiquity, dividing pre-history into a stone, a bronze and an iron age. Thomsen was also a prominent numismatist, and in many ways his collection of European medieval coins has never been surpassed. The coin was subsequently bought by count Preben Charles Bille-Brahe-Selby (1842-1918) at the auction in Copenhagen in 1876 for the at the time gigantic sum of DKK 920, which was by far the highest price obtained among the more than 12,000 medieval coins offered."
John, or Hans, was king of Denmark 1481-1513, king of Norway 1483-1513, king of Sweden 1497-1501 and duke of Schleswig-Holstein 1483-1513. He was the last ruler to successfully unite the Scandinavian countries, however briefly.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold, this specimen 14.67 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-3; Galster-24; Sieg-12; Schou-2; Beskrivelsen 1791-pl. 1, 2; Schive-pl. XIV, 38; Bruun-3831.
- 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.
- Siegs Møntcatalog 2016: Danmark med Omrader, 48 ed., Frederikssund, Siegs Forlag ApS, 2015.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio, Jeremy Bostwick and Henrik Holt Christensen, The L. E. Bruun Collection - A Corpus of Scandinavian Monetary History Part I, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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