Pfalz-Birkenfeld-Zweibrucken 1788 2 ducat Fr-2044
This specimen was lot 3793 in Künker sale 264 (Osnabrück, June 2015), where it sold for €22,000 (about US$28,420 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"PFALZ-BIRKENFELD-ZWEIBRÜCKEN Carl August, 1775-1795. 2 Dukaten 1788, Zweibrücken. CAROLVS II · D · G · C · PAL · RH · D · BAV · I C · & · M Büste r. mit langem Haar und Schleife, unter dem Halsabschnitt die Signatur "W" (Johann Fidelius Weichinger, Münzmeister in Zweibrücken 1770-1790), darunter die Wertangabe//Mit Herzogshut bedecktes, ovales, mehrfeldiges Wappen, umher mehrere Ordensketten, zu den Seiten je ein gekrönter Löwe als Schildhalter, zu den Seiten des Herzogshutes die geteilte Jahreszahl 17 - 88. GOLD. Prachtexemplar. Fast Stempelglanz. (Germany, duchy of Pfalz-Birkenfeld-Zwebrucken, Charles August, 1775-95, double ducat of 1788, Zweibrucken mint. Obverse: bust right with long hair tied in a ribbon, mintmaster's initial on truncation, denomination below; reverse: mantled oval arms supported by two crowned lions, ducal hat above divides the date. Proof example, choice uncirculated.)"
This very rare issue is the only double ducat recorded from this locale in the eighteenth century. It is accompanied by a single ducat (KM 63), also rare. The Wittelsbach family divided several times and Bavaria and the Palatinate were ruled by various branches. Carl August's son Maximilian Joseph swept the lot when all the other branches died out and he became king of Bavaria.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 7 g, 0.986 fine gold, .221 troy oz AGW, this specimen 7.00 g.
Catalog reference: Slg. Memmesh. -; Slg. Noss II -. KM 64, Fr-2044.
- 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 Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Catalog 264, Gold coins | Russian Coins and Medals | German Coins after 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2015.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
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