Regensburg (1742) 2 ducats Fr-2514
This specimen was lot 3209 in Künker sale 405 (Osnabrück, March 2024), where it sold for €36,000 (about US$47,236 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"DIE REICHSSTADT REGENSBURG. DIE ZEIT DES ÖSTERREICHISCHEN ERBFOLGEKRIEGES UND DES KAISERS KARL VII., 1740-1745. Goldmünzen aus der Zeit des Kaisers Karl VII. 2 Dukaten o. J. (1742), mit Titel Karls VII. Geprägt mit den Stempeln des Dukaten. Münzmeister Johann Christoph Busch. Stempelschneider Christoph Daniel Oexlein. DVCATVS - RATISPON Stadtansicht von Regensburg, oben strahlendes Dreieck, unten r. die Signatur B (Johann Christoph Busch, Münzmeister in Regensburg 1741-1766), im Abschnitt das Stadtwappen in Kartusche zwischen Lorbeer- und Palmzweig//CAROL . VII - D . G • ROM • IMP . S • A Geharnischtes Brustbild des Kaisers r. mit Lorbeerkranz, unter der Schulter die Signatur Œ (Christoph Daniel Oexlein, Stempelschneider in Regensburg 1714-1779). In US-Plastikholder der NGC mit der Bewertung MS 62 (6643529-008). GOLD. Von großer Seltenheit. Prachtexemplar. Winz. Kratzer, vorzüglich-Stempelglanz. (city of Regensburg, undated double ducat, struck in the name of Charles VII using ducat dies by Christoph Daniel Oexlein. Obverse: city view, radiant triangle above, mintmaster's initial below, city arms with laurel and palm branch in the exergue; reverse: laureate armored bust of Charles VII right, "CE" on the truncation. Extremely rare, cabinet example, light hairlines, extremely fine to uncirculated, graded NGC MS-62.)
Die Stadt Regensburg stellte sich mit dieser Huldigungsprägung im Österreichischen Erbfolgekrieg auf die Seite Karls VII. Es gelang dem Wittelsbacher zwar, nach der Kaiserkrönung in Frankfurt am 12. Februar 1742 seine von den Habsburgern eroberten Stammlande zurückzugewinnen, er starb jedoch plötzlich am 20. Januar 1745, ohne die Kaiserwürde dauerhaft für sein Haus gesichert zu haben. Im Frieden von Füssen vom 22. April 1745 verzichtete sein Sohn Maximilian III. Joseph auf das habsburgische Erbe. (With this homage coin, the city of Regensburg sided with Charles VII in the War of the Austrian Succession. Although the Wittelsbach elector succeeded in regaining his ancestral lands that had been conquered by the Habsburgs after the imperial coronation in Frankfurt on February 12, 1742, he died suddenly on January 20, 1745, without having permanently secured the imperial dignity for his house. In the Peace of Füssen of April 22, 1745, his son Maximilian III renounced the throne in favor of the Habsburgs.)"
The campaign of Karl VII of Bavaria represented the last serious attempt to take the increasingly worthless imperial crown away from the Hapsburgs. Two generations later, in 1806, Napoleon would abolish the Holy Roman Empire and nobody would lift a sword in its defense. Regensburg, completely surrounded by Bavarian territory, had little choice but to strike coinage in the pretender's name. This example realized over four times the catalog value.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 6.98 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 6,95 g.
Catalog reference: KM 308, Beckenbauer 311, II; Fr-2514; Slg. Bach (Auktion Künker 238) -.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 405: Coins of the Bishopric and City of Regensburg - A significant special collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
Link to:
- (1740-45)-B half batzen (2 kreuzer), Charles VII
- (1740-45)-B 4 kreuzer (batzen), Charles VII
- (1740-45)-ICB quarter thaler, Charles VII/city arms
- Regensburg (1740) thaler Dav-2613
- (1740-45)-ICB CDO thaler, Charles VII/baroque arms
- (1740-45)-ICB CDO double thaler, Charles VII/baroque arms
- (1740-45) half ducat, Charles VII/city view
- (1741-45)-ICB OEXL 15 kreuzer (1/8 thaler), Charles VII/city arms
- (1741-45)-ICB CDO half thaler, Charles VII/city arms
- (1741)-B 1/32 ducat
- (1742)-B CDO half thaler, Charles VII/city view
- (1742)-CDO thaler, Charles VII/city view
- (1742)-ICB CDO thaler, Charles VII/city view with eagle
- (1742)-CDO double thaler, Charles VII/city view
- (1742)-ICB CDO double thaler, Charles VII/city view with eagle
- (1742-45)-B half ducat, Charles VII/city arms
- (1742-45)-B ducat, Charles VII/city view
- (1742-45)-ICB double ducat, Charles VII/city arms
- (1742)-ICB 10 ducats, Charles VII/city view
- Coins and currency dated 1742