Mainz 1655-MF ducat Fr-1656
This specimen was lot 4724 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €1,100 (about US$1,422 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"MAINZ, ERZBISTUM, Johann Philipp von Schönborn, 1647-1673. Dukat 1655, MF, Mainz. GOLD. Sehr schön-vorzüglich. Erworben von der Münzenhandlung Robert Ball Nachf. Berlin. (archbishopric of Mainz, John Philip of Schonborn, 1647-73, ducat of 1655, Mainz mint. Very fine to extremely fine.)"
The archbishops of Mainz were prolific issuers of gold coins in the late middle ages but output dropped in the late fifteenth century, never to recover. This type was struck 1652-61 and is among the more available ducats from this state, tho not cheap. Johann Philipp von Schönborn (1605–1673) was a committed pluralist, being the archbishop-elector of Mainz (1647–1673), the bishop of Würzburg (1642–1673), and the bishop of Worms (1663–1673). He was a principal negotiator of the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 which ended the Thirty Years War. Altho Friedberg merges most of the ducats of this prelate into Fr-1656, the SCWC divides them as follows: KM 105 (1650-51), KM 106 (1652-53), KM 107 (1652-61), KM 116 (1663-64), KM 118 (bust right, 1667-68 and 1670).
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.50 g, 0.989 fine gold, this specimen 3.44 g.
Catalog reference: KM 107, Fr-1656; Slg. Walther 303; Helmschrott 301; Slg. Pick 421.
- 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 386: Brakteaten | Mainz | Bibliothek Prof. Dr. Niklot Klüßendorf | Mittelalter und Neuzeit | Goldprägungen | Deutsche Münzen ab 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2023.
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