Magdeburg (1614-17) 2 goldgulden Fr-1556
This specimen was lot 6568 in Künker sale 336 (Osnabrück, Germany, March 2020), where it sold for €9,500 (about US$12,432 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"MAGDEBURG, ERZBISTUM, Christian Wilhelm von Brandenburg, 1598-1608-1631. Doppelter Goldgulden o. J. (1614-1617), Halle. Geharnischtes Hüftbild v. v. den Kopf nach r. gewandt, die Linke am Schwertgriff, unter dem Arm das Münzzeichen des Jonas Wedemeyer//Behelmtes Stiftsschild, oben und unten die Schilde von Brandenburg und Zollern, umher Wappenkranz aus 14 Schilden. GOLD. Von großer Seltenheit. Leichte Fassungsspuren, sehr schön. Exemplar der Auktion Tietjen + Co. 63, Hamburg 1991, Nr. 616. (Germany, archbishopric of Magdeburg, Christian William of Brandeburg, 1608-31, undated double goldgulden, Halle mint. obverse: armored half-length bust right with sword; reverse: helmeted arms, fourteen shields around. Very rare, mount removed, very fine.)"
This rare coin is unpriced in the SCWC. It is the only issue of this denomination from the arcbishop or the city. By the second half of the sixteenth century, the archbishopric of Magdeburg was completely converted to Lutheranism yet the ecclesiastical state was not abolished. Instead, it became a puppet state of the elector of Brandenburg, who either appointed himself or one of his close relatives archbishop. Brandenburg annexed it outright in 1680. Magdeburg was sacked and destroyed by imperial troops in 1631.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 6.50 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 6,14 g.
Catalog reference: KM 61, Fr-1556; v. Schr. 400.
- 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 Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Catalog 336: Gold coins from all over the World|German Coins after 1871. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2020.
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