Salzburg (1560-86) 4 ducats Fr-630
This specimen was lot 30009 in Heritage sale 3029 (New York, January 2014), where it sold for $35,250. The catalog description[1] noted, "Seldom Seen Rarity Johann Jakob Khuen von Belasi gold 4 Ducats ND (1560-86), AU58 NGC. Obv. Three shields. Rev. Two Saints seated, facing each other. An exceedingly rare issue. Coins produced in the sixteenth century are typically crude in both engraving and striking. Considering these shortcomings, this example is an exceptional product from these rather basic production methods. The rarity is unquestioned, as we can find no records of this type. Salzburg, like many other Europe[a]n cities, was a Bishopric from the Middle Ages through the early 1800's. The Bishops' rule was quite firm in Salzburg, and in 1731 the Protestants were ordered to recant their non-Catholic beliefs or be banished from the city. Ex: 'Colonel' E.H.R. Green; Green Estate' Partnership of Eric P Newman / B.G. Johnson." The Archbishopric of Salzburg was an ecclesiastical state between Bavaria and Austria and usually ruled by a Hapsburg client. In the seventeenth century it was blessed with a number of productive silver mines and the prince-archbishop was a prolific issuer of coins, particularly thalers. The archbishopric was secularized in 1803 and passed to Austria in 1814.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 14 g, 0.986 fine gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-630, Probszt-459.
- 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.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Helmut Zöttl, Salzburg Münzen und Medaillen, 1500-1810, 2 vols. Salzburg: Verlag Fruhwald, 2008.
- [1]Bierrenbach, Cristiano, Stuart Levine and Bruce Lorich, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3029, featuring Selections from the Eric P. Newman Collection, Part III, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2013.
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