Magdeburg 1551 2 ducats Fr-1531
This specimen was lot 40365 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $66,000. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Likely Unique Siege Issue from Magdeburg, Plated and Cited in Friedberg, GERMANY. Magdeburg. Uniface 2 Ducats Klippe, 1551. PCGS MS-62 Gold Shield. Struck during the siege of Magdeburg. Obverse: Maiden (personification of the city) holding wreath and standing over city gate; IIII above, star to left and right, date below. This handsomely struck RARITY is quite likely unique, issued during the lengthy siege of the city by forces of Prince Moritz of Saxony that ended in the city's surrender under honorable terms. This struggle resulted from the city's rejection of the "Interim" of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, which was intended to secure the sovereign rights of Catholic Bishops and of prelates who accepted the Reformation as part of an attempted negotiated end to religious wars in the Empire. A splendid example of the siege or "obsidional" coins of this turbulent era, and undoubtedly unrivaled in the realm of world Gold coinage. Ex: Stack's (1/2008) Lot # 2685."
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.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 7 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 25 x 24 mm, 6.45 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-1531 (this coin plated and cited).
- 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.
- Korchnak, Lawrence C., Siege Coins of the World, 1453-1902, Lancaster, PA: Classical Numismatic Group, 2021.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The August 2021 ANA sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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