Denmark 1665-GK 3 mark Fr-129

Stack's Bowers sale of the L. E. Bruun Collection, lot 1082

This specimen was lot 1082 in Stack's Bowers sale of the L. E. Bruun Collection (Copenhagen, September 2024), where it sold for €15,600 (about US$17,288 including buyer's fees). The catalog description^[1] noted,

"Alluring Fractional Ducat with Only Three Known Pieces in Private Hands, DENMARK. Gold 3 Mark (1/4 Ducat), 1665. Copenhagen Mint. Frederik III. NGC MS-63. Mintmaster: Gotfred Krüger (GK). Presumably engraved by Jeremias Hercules. Only two or three examples in private hands, plus one in the National Museum of Denmark. An astonishingly perfect example of this type which quite unconventionally for a gold coin bears the denomination of 3 Mark (1/2 Taler) written all across the reverse.
It has been suggested that these very small gold coins (0.90 g) were minted for the king to be used as handouts on his domestic travels. Ex: Countship of Brahesminde Collection (Private Sale - 1922)."

The only other Danish gold coin for 1665 is a five ducats (Fr-81) although we note a rare ducat from Norway (Fr-4). This date also comes with a shamrock mintmark (♣).

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 0.87 g, 0.979 fine gold, this specimen 0.90 g.

Catalog reference: Fr-129; KM-264.2; Hede-40C; Sieg-102.1; Schou-12; Aagaard-58.1; Bruun-6441.

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.

Links to:

Denmark 1665-GK 3 mark Fr-129

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