Holland 1673 4-1/2 ducats Fr-256
This specimen was lot 42465 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Oklahoma City, OK, August 2025), where it sold for $21,600. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Extremely Rare Gold 4-1/2 Ducats from the Adams and Brand Collections. NETHERLANDS. Holland. Amsterdam. 4-1/2 Ducats, 1673. NGC MS-62. Franco-Dutch War issue. Obverse: Standing knight with sword and bundle of arrows; Reverse: Square cartouche with five lines of text. Reportedly struck in Amsterdam during the French invasion; following the 1672 Rampjaar, or Disaster Year, during the onset of the Franco-Dutch War, the Dutch Republic moved its mint from Dordrecht to Amsterdam, where Ducats and Silver Riders were struck over a single year from November 1672 to November 1673. The Amsterdam mint did not possess milling machinery, and struck all coinage using the traditional hammer method, but the present piece was struck using a screw press, with an unusual thick lettered edge that reads D: MEMORIAL- V: D: MUNTE- V: AMSTERDAM. The edge lettering seems to denote a memorial of the Amsterdam mint, suggesting that these pieces may have been struck after the closure of the mint in 1673. Though described by NGC as a 4-1/2 Ducats, and listed by KM in various weights that include 3 Ducats, 3-1/2 Ducats, 4 Ducats, and 5 Ducats, this type would not appear to be struck to a consistent weight standard; indeed, the weight of the current piece would more accurately be described as 4-4/5 Ducats. In addition, these multiple ducats are noted to contain a gold content lower than the ideal of 98.6% fine. These inconsistencies, in conjunction with the unorthodox method of striking, support the theory that these pieces were produced outside of the mint. Some have theorized the source to be the studio of Christoffel Adolphi, a goldsmith and medallist in Amsterdam in this period who is known to have produced Ducat punches for the mint. In any case, an EXTREMELY RARE and interesting issue struck to a quality quite unlike contemporary circulating issues. From the Hough Family Collection. Ex: Dr. Lawrence A. Adams Collection. Ex: Virgil M. Brand Collection (Sotheby's - 7/1982) Lot # 226."
Numista comments, "The mint was moved temporarily from Dordrecht to Amsterdam in 1673 during the Franco-Dutch war. Delmonte groups the ducat piedforts of weight 3.5 to 5 ducats under a single type, whereas Krause splits them."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 15.75 g, 0.986 fine gold, edge lettered "❀ D : GEDACHTENIS · V : D : MUNTE · V : AMSTERDAM"; this specimen 16.78 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-256; KM-14 (listed under Amsterdam); Delm-779.
- 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.
- Delmonte, A., Le Bénélux D'or, Amsterdam: Jacques Schulman N.V., 1964, with supplements to 1977.
- van der Wis, Jan, and Tom Passon, Catalogus van de Nederlandse Munten geslagen sind bet aantreden van Philips II tot aan het einde van de Bataafse Republiek (1555-1806), 2nd ed., Apeldoorn, Netherlands: Omni-Trading b.v., 2009.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2025 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, featuring The Richard August Collection and the Richard Margolis Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
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