Dortmund 1639 ducat Fr-858
This specimen was lot 278 in Sincona sale 63 (Zürich, June 2020), where it sold for 4,000 CHF (about US$5,012 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"DEUTSCHLAND | Dortmund, Stadt, Dukat 1639, Dortmund. Mit dem Titel Ferdinands III. Adler über 3 Zeilen Schrift. Rv. Stehender Kaiser. Äusserst selten. Sehr schön. Gewellt. Leichte Prägeschwäche. (Germany, city of Dortmund, ducat of 1639, Dortmund mint, in the name of Ferdinand III. Obverse: eagle over three line inscription; reverse: standing emperor. Extremely rare, Very fine, Wavy flan, Slightly weakly struck.)"
Today, Dortmund is part of the Ruhr valley industrial complex; in the seventeenth century, Dortmund was an insignificant free city sandwiched betwen the county of Mark and the bishopric of Munster. The SCWC lists numerous thalers but all are so rare as to lack photographs.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.50 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 3.44 g.
Catalog reference: KM 30, Berghaus 179. Fr-858.
- 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.
- [1]Richter, Jürg, Sincona sale 63: Gold and Silver Coins and Medals, SINCONA Bullion Auction, Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2020.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
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