Munsterberg-Oels 1545 ducat Fr-3230
This specimen was lot 4063 in Künker sale 406 (Osnabrück, March 2024), where it sold for €2,800 (about US$3,674 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCHLESIEN, MÜNSTERBERG-OELS, HERZOGTUM, Joachim, Heinrich II. Johann und Georg, 1536-1553. Dukat 1545, Reichenstein. Ausbeute der Reichensteiner Gruben. GOLD. Kl. Druckstelle, fast sehr schön. Exemplar der Auktion Winter 43, Düsseldorf 1982, Nr. 899. (Silesia, duchy of Munsterberg-Oels, Joachim, Henry II John and George, 1536-53, ducat of 1545, Reichenstein mint, for the mines. Small punch mark, about very fine.)"
The duchy is located in Silesia and fell to the Hapsburgs in the seventeenth century on the extinction of the line. Frederick the Great of Prussia seized Silesia in the 1740's but it is now part of Poland. This type was struck 1537-53. Silver mining thalers exist in many varieties but gold mining ducats are unusual.
Recorded mintage: unknown but rare.
Specification: 3.49 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 3,44 g.
Catalog reference: KM MB29, Fr-3230; F. u. S. 2092; Müseler 57.1/31.
- 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.
- Nicol, N. Douglas, Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of German Coins, 1501-Present, 3rd ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 406: Gold Coins | Coins and Medals from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. Löwenstein-Wertheim | German Coins after 1871, a. o. Patterns from the Coenen Collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
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