Pomerania (1665-70) 4 ducats
This specimen was lot 185 in Künker sale 400 (Berlin, February 2024), where it sold for €34,000 (about US$44,108 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"POMMERN, HERZOGTUM NACH DER LANDES, Ernst Bogislaw, Statthalter von Pommern 1665-1678. 4 Dukaten o. J. unsigniert. ERNESTUS BOGISLAUS D . G . DUX CROY & S · R · I · PRINC · Brustbild r. mit Allongeperücke und umgelegtem Mantel, darunter TANDEM ·//* SERENISS · ACPOTENT : ELECT : BRAND : IN DUC : PRUS : & POM : LOC · TNS Gekröntes, mehrfeldiges Wappen mit Mittelschild auf Croy'schen Querbalken, umher Kranz. In US-Plastikholder der NGC mit der Bewertung MS 61 (6845879-001). GOLD. Von größter Seltenheit. Sehr attraktives Exemplar mit feiner Goldtönung, vorzüglich/vorzüglich-Stempelglanz. (Germany, duchy of Pomerania, Ernst Bogislaw, governor of Pomerania 1665-1678, undated and unsigned quadruple ducat. Obverse: peruked and mantled bust right, with TANDEM below; reverse: crowned, manifold arms with escutcheon over Croy's crossbar, wreath around. Graded NGC MS61. Extremely rare. Very attractive example with fine gold toning, extremely fine to uncirculated.)
Ernst Bogislaw von Croy (*1620, Finstingen; †1684, Königsberg) war evangelischer Bischof von Cammin, Statthalter von brandenburgisch Hinterpommern und Preußen. Er war als Neffe von Bogislaw XIV. dem letzten Herzog von Pommern, der Erbe des persönlichen Besitzes der 1637 im Mannesstamm erloschenen Dynastie der Greifen. (Ernst Bogislaw von Croy (born 1620, Finstingen; died 1684, Königsberg) was the Protestant bishop of Cammin, governor of Brandenburg Pomerania and Prussia. As the nephew of Bogislaw XIV, the last duke of Pomerania, he was the heir to the personal property of the Griffin dynasty, which died out in the male line in 1637.)"
Friedberg doesn't list any Brandenburg issues for Pomerania, only Swedish. Wikipedia comments,
"From 1637 to 1650 Ernst Bogislaw was the administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Cammin; the prince-bishopric was promised to Brandenburg-Prussia in the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia. In 1650 he renounced his rights to the prince-bishopric in return for a large payment and the expectancy to his mother's Pomeranian pension. Ernst Bogislaw entered the service of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, and served as Statthalter of Farther Pomerania from 1665 to 1670 and then as Statthalter of Prussia from 1670 to 1684."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 14 g, 0.986 fine gold.
Catalog reference: KM unlisted, Fr-unlisted, Slg. Pogge 1118 (dort im Gewicht von 3 Dukaten); Slg. Hahn (Auktion Künker 224) -.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- 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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