Rostock 1796-IG ducat Fr-2597
This specimen was lot 2084 in Künker sale 352 (Osnabrück, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €4,200 (about US$5,845 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"ROSTOCK, STADT, Dukat 1796, mit Titel von Franz II. GOLD. R Nur 1.000 Exemplare geprägt. Fast vorzüglich. Dies ist die letzte Goldmünze der Stadt Rostock. (Germany, city of Rostock, ducat of 1796, struck in the name of Francis II. Scarce, only 1,000 examples struck. About extremely fine. This is the last gold coin issued by the city.)"
The city of Rostock, long a semi-independent member of the Hanseatic League, was subdued by the duke of Mecklenburg in the late sixteenth century. Occupied at various times by the Danes, Swedes and the French, her importance declined until the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century favored her shipyards. No thalers were struck in the eighteenth century and gold issues are very sparse.
Recorded mintage: 200.
Specification: 3.50 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 3,45 g.
Catalog reference: KM 130, Fr-2597; Kunzel 238 A/a.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- 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, Künker Auktion 352: Die Sammlung Hermann Schwarz: Faszination des gepragten Goldes. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2021.
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