Hesse-Cassel 1731 1/2 ducat Fr-1303
This specimen was lot 4010 in Künker sale 406 (Osnabrück, March 2024), where it sold for €5,000 (about US$6,561 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"HESSEN-KASSEL, LANDGRAFSCHAFT, Friedrich I. 1730-1751. 1/2 Dukat 1731, Kassel. Edergold. GOLD. Vorzüglich. Exemplar der Auktion Möller 25, Kassel 1999, Nr. 480. (landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel, Frederick I, 1730-51, half ducat of 1731, Cassel mint, gold from the Eder river. Extremely fine.)"
Gold washed into the Eder river from the local mountains and was retrieved by panning. Yields were low and the enterprise was finally abandoned in the mid-nineteenth century. Occasionally, enough gold would be scraped together that the landgrave could strike coins, as here. A few more of this half ducat were struck in 1737. All are rare. Frederick I was also king of Sweden and spent most of his reign there and so made his brother William regent in Hesse.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.75 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 1,78 g.
Catalog reference: KM 407, Fr-1303; Schütz 1558; Müller 2506.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- 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, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 406: Gold Coins | Coins and Medals from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. Löwenstein-Wertheim | German Coins after 1871, a. o. Patterns from the Coenen Collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
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