Mainz 1745 2 ducats Fr-1676
This specimen was lot 4793 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €5,000 (about US$6,461 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"MAINZ, ERZBISTUM, Johann Friedrich Karl von Ostein, 1743-1763. 2 Dukaten 1745, unbestimmte Münzstätte. GOLD. RR Vorzüglich. (archbishopric of Mainz, John Frederick Charles of Ostein, 1743-63, double ducat of 1745, unknown mint. 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 rare type was also struck in 1748 and was accompanied by a single ducat (KM 283).
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 7.00 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 6.95 g.
Catalog reference: KM 284, Slg. Walther 516; Fr-1676; Slg. Pick 569.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [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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