Hesse-Darmstadt 1656 ducat Fr-1192
This specimen was lot 4012 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-DARMSTADT, LANDGRAFSCHAFT, Georg II. 1626-1661. Dukat 1656, Darmstadt. Münzmeister Johann Sartorius. Brustbild in verziertem Mantel l.//Vierfeldiges Wappen (Katzenelnbogen, Ziegenhain, Nidda und Diez) mit dem hessischen Löwen als Mittelschild. GOLD. Von großer Seltenheit. Etwas gewellt, min. geglättet, sehr schön. Exemplar der Slg. Walther, Auktion Dr. Peus Nachf. 422, Frankfurt 2018, Nr. 1214. (landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, George II, 1626-61, ducat of 1656, Darmstadt mint. Obverse: mantled bust left; reverse: quartered arms of Katzenelnbogen, Ziegenhain, Nidda and Diez with the Hessian lion as the escutcheon. Extremely rare, somewhat bent, smoothed, very fine.)"
Seventeenth century coinage from this state is very rare. Thi si the first gold coin we have posted for this state from this period. This very rare type was also struck in 1655 and 1658.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.49 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 3.38 g.
Catalog reference: KM 43, Fr-1192; Schütz 2744 ("sehr selten"); Müller 3202 ("sehr selten"); Slg. Mercator (Auktion Künker 220) 7703.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- 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.
- [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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