Mainz 1696 ducat Fr-1670
This specimen was lot 4772 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €2,400 (about US$3,101 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"MAINZ, ERZBISTUM, Lothar Franz von Schönborn, 1695-1729. Dukat 1696, Nürnberg, für Bamberg, auf den Frieden von Rijswijk. Sechsfeldiges Wappen mit Mittelschild auf Hermelinmantel, darüber Fürstenhut//Minerva steht fast v. v. den Kopf n. l. gewandt, in der Rechten Ölzweig, die Linke auf einen Medusenschild gestützt. GOLD. RR Vorzüglich. (archbishopric of Mainz, Lothar Francis of Schönborn, 1695-1729, ducat of 1696, Nuremberg mint, for Bamberg, on the Peace of Rijswijk. Obverse: sixfold arms with escutcheon, electoral cap above; reverse: Minerva stands with olive branch and Medusa shield. Very rare, 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 is not listed in the SCWC. This ducat commemorated the Peace of Riswick, which ended the Nine Years War between France and the Grand Alliance. Fighting broke out again in 1701 with the War of the Spanish Succession. Lothar Francis was also bishop of Bamberg 1693-1729 and issued coins there as well.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.50 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 3,48 g.
Catalog reference: KM 221, Slg. Walther 482; Fr-1670; Pax in Nummis 384; Krug 374; Slg. Pick -.
- 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.
Link to: