Denmark 1648 ducat Fr-75

Stack's Bowers sale of the L. E. Bruun Collection, lot 1057

Künker Auction 439, lot 2019

The first specimen was lot 1057 in Stack's Bowers sale of the L. E. Bruun Collection (Copenhagen, September 2024), where it sold for €11,100 (about US$12,301 including buyer's fees). The catalog description^[1] noted,

"Tremendous Largesse Klippe with Bright Luster and Limited Circulation, DENMARK. Largesse Ducat Klippe, 1648. Frederik III. Copenhagen Mint. NGC AU-58. Mintmaster: Henrik Köhler. The utterly attractive condition makes this already VERY RARE piece become excessively so. This beauty is highlighted by the rich details and the limited instances of actual handling seen throughout.
The Ducat was the most valuable of the coins that were actually used as largesse money. At the coronation on 23 November 1648, the king rode in a procession from Our Lady's Church to Copenhagen Castle. Behind the king rode people who threw these coins specifically made for distribution to the masses."

The second specimen was lot 2019 in Künker sale 439 (Osnabrück, March 2026), where it sold for €5,000 (about US$6,879 including buyer's fees). The catalog description^[2] noted,

"DÄNEMARK, KÖNIGREICH Frederik III., 1648-1670. Dukatenklippe 1648, Kopenhagen. Münzmeister Heinrich Köhler. Stempelschneider Hans zum Busch. GOLD. RR Sehr schön-vorzüglich. Exemplar der Sammlung Münzen und Medaillen aus adeligem Privatbesitz. (kingdom of Denmark, Frederick III, 1648-70, klippe ducat of 1648, Copenhagen mint. Very rare, very fine to extremely fine.)"

While flinging largesse to the crowd was a common practice of many monarchs, only in Scandinavia were special coins struck for the purpose.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 3.49 g, 0.986 fine gold, the first specimen 3.45 g.

Catalog reference: the first specimen Fr-75; KM-163.2; Hede-5A; Sieg-108.1; Schou-27; Aagaard-5.1; Bruun-5982. The second specimen is Fr-75; Hede 5 B; Schou 28; Sieg 108.2.

Source:

Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
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.
^[2]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Frühjahrs-Auktion 439: Gold Coins from around the world, particularly Denmark, Habsburg, Malta and Saxony | German Coins after 1871 including Coins from the Collection of Jürgen and Erika Schmidt, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2026.

Links to:

Denmark 1648 ducat Fr-75

Navigation menu

Search