Norway (1661) 2 specie daler Dav-3608

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Stack's Bowers sale of the L. E. Bruun Collection, lot 1217
SB924-1217r.jpg

This specimen was lot 1217 in Stack's Bowers sale of the L. E. Bruun Collection (Copenhagen, September 2024), where it sold for €432,000 (about US$478,743 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,

"A Fabulous and Enormously Rare 2 Speciedaler Celebrating Frederik as Sovereign of Norway, One of the Absolute Highlights of All Norwegian Coinage, Unique in Private Hands, NORWAY. 2 Speciedaler, ND (1661). Christiania Mint. Frederik III. NGC AU-58. Mintmaster: Frederik Grüner. Obverse engraved by Johan Blum. Arguably the most famous, beautiful, and coveted 17th century Norwegian coin is represented here by an absolutely mesmerizing example with wonderful details and lovely iridescent toning. The bold strike has only been lightly touched by circulation, and these details are nicely complimented by handsome brilliance. This specimen is the only privately owned example of the three known, with the other two resting in the National Museum of Denmark and the Gotha Coin Cabinet in Friedenstein. Given the ENORMOUS RARITY, this lot represents a singular opportunity to acquire a piece that is at the pinnacle of Norwegian numismatics, and such a chance seldom arises in numismatics. A piece that should engender the most fierce bidding, as the chance to ever acquire this piece again will likely evaporate away once the hammer falls on this lot.

This outstanding type was struck to commemorate the celebration of king Frederik as a sovereign monarch of Norway. The ceremony took place at Akershus on August 15th 1661 in the presence of crown prince Christian V. While the obverse had previously been used for the regular Speciedalers from 1659 and 1660 (Aagaard die 59-4), the reverse is in every way unique in Scandinavian monetary history. Below the text "Aggers Haus" is a beautifully composed and balanced rendering of Akershus Castle on top of a rock overlooking the sea. Akershus, which can still be visited in the Norwegian capital Oslo, was constructed around 1300 to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Many late medieval monarchs resided there, including Margaret (Margrethe) I (1375-1412), who was the architect of the Kalmar Treaty which united the Scandinavian countries Denmark, Norway (with Iceland) and Sweden (with Finland) under a Danish monarch. Christian IV, always very personally involved in the architectural design of official buildings, first transformed Akershus from a medieval castle into a regular fortress in 1592 and then from 1637 onwards into a full-blown renaissance castle complete with Italian inspired bastions, also visible on the design of the coin. A Portugaloser (Schou-2) struck from the same reverse die but with a different obverse die cut a year earlier (Aagaard 60-1) is known in three examples: one in the Royal Coin Cabinet at the National Museum of Denmark, one in the Coin Cabinet (Universitetets Myntkabinett) in Oslo and Bruun-10080 from the C. F. Schubart collection."

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 57.55 g, 0.875 fine silver, this specimen 57.60 g.

Catalog reference: KM-65; Dav-3608; Hede-40; Sieg-45; NMD-52; Schou-12; Aagaard-A1; Rønning-40; Skaare-536; Bruun-10082.

Source:

  • Aamlid, J. O., B. Ahlström, K Jonsson and G. Thesen, Norges Mynter fra 995-1992, Stockholm: Numismatika Bokförlaget AB, 1991.
  • Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
  • Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1600-1700, Galesburg, IL, 1974.
  • Siegs Møntcatalog 2016: Danmark med Omrader, 48 ed., Frederikssund, Siegs Forlag ApS, 2015.
  • [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio, Jeremy Bostwick and Henrik Holt Christensen, The L. E. Bruun Collection - A Corpus of Scandinavian Monetary History Part I, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.

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