Mantua (1589-90) doppia Fr-537
This specimen was lot 525 in Künker sale 400 (Berlin, February 2024), where it sold for €11,000 (about US$14,270 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"ITALIEN, MANTUA, Vincenzo I. 1587-1612. Doppia o. J. Mantua. · VINCENTIVS D · G · DVX · MANT · IIII · Geharnischtes Brustbild l. mit Spitzkragen und umgelegter Kette des Ordens vom Goldenen Vlies//* ET * MONTIS * FERRATI * · II · * · Gekröntes, vierfeldiges Wappen mit Mittelschild. GOLD. Von allergrößter Seltenheit. Feine Goldpatina, kl. Stempelfehler, Schrötlingsfehler im Feld der Rückseite, sehr schön + (Italy, duchy of Mantua, Vincent I, 1587-1612, undated doppia, Mantua mint. Obverse: armored bust left with pointed collar and order chain; reverse: crowned and quartered arms with escutcheon. Supremely rare, fine gold patina, light die flaws, planchet defects in the field of the reverse, very fine or better.)"
This specimen was offered again as lot 1135 in Künker Auction 425 (Osnabrück, July 2025), where it sold for €15,000 (about US$21,240 including buyers' fees). This is from a series that included ten, seven and four doppie. Friedberg lists this one as a two doppie but the weight is that of a double scudo d'oro. The Gonzaga family managed to hold onto some autonomy as dukes of Mantua until its extinction in 1707, when the duchy fell to the Austrians.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 6.50 g, 0.917 fine gold, this specimen 6.49 g.
Catalog reference: Bignotti 5 (R4); Varesi 532 (R4); Fr-537.
- 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 400: Selected löser of the Dukes of Guelph from the Friedrich Popken Collection | Numismatic treasures from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. "multiple portraits" from a Westphalian private collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
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