Luxembourg 1946 20 francs
This type was struck in 1946 to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the reign of king John the Blind of Bohemia. Tho king John ruled in Bohemia, his dynastic name was Luxemburg and he had substantial estates there. Luxembourg was searching for something to celebrate in 1946, having just survived Nazi devastation and not yet received Marshall Plan aid. A silver hundred and fifty francs accompany this issue. The second specimen was lot 2128 in Künker sale 439 (Osnabrück, March 2026), where it sold for €12,000 (about US$16,509 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"LUXEMBURG, HERZOGTUM, AB 1815 GROSSHERZOGTUM Charlotte, 1919-1964. 20 Francs 1946, Brüssel, von A. Bonnetain, auf den 600. Jahrestag der Schlacht von Crécy und zur Erinnerung an den Heldentod Johannes des Blinden. Probe (Essai) in Gold. Mit geriffeltem Rand. GOLD. Von größter Seltenheit. Nur 25 Exemplare geprägt. Polierte Platte. (grand duchy of Luxembourg, Charlotte 1919-64, twenty francs of 1946, Brussels mint, on the 600th anniversary of the battle of Crécy and the death of John the Blind. Pattern in gold, with reeded edge. Extremely rare, only 25 pieces struck, proof.)"
Recorded mintage: 100,000 plus 100 proofs plus 25 essais in gold.
Specification: 8.5 g, 0.835 fine silver, .228 troy oz ASW, 27 mm diameter, designed by Armand Bonnetain. The second specimen is gold, 13,78 g.
Catalog reference: KM 47, the second specimen is Probst L 387-1; Schl. 61; Vanhoudt/Saunders 942 (R4).
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Frühjahrs-Auktion 439: Gold Coins from around the world, particularly Denmark, Habsburg, Malta and Saxony | German Coins after 1871 including Coins from the Collection of Jürgen and Erika Schmidt, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2026.
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