Salzburg 1554 8 ducats Fr-607
This specimen was lot 30088 in Heritage auction 3096 (Dallas, TX, March 2021), where it sold for $108,000. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Likely the First Appearance of this Inaugural Date 8 Ducat in 25 Years. Austria - Salzburg. Michael von Küenburg gold 8 Ducat 1554 AU Details (Obverse Graffiti) NGC. The largest denomination minted during Michael von Küenburg's tenure as Prince-Archbishop, and a design that will instantly be familiar to collectors of the series from his contemporary Guldiner (though no Guldiner dated 1554 is known). From a production run of a mere 2 dates, this inaugural year and 1559, we are not aware of another example having come to auction in the last 25 years, as this specific date was missing from Künker's 2015 sale of the Numitor Collection, while Zöttl's plate coin for the 8 Ducat is an example dated 1559. Despite light cleaning from long ago, and what appears to be a small "8" above St. Rupert's left shoulder, this specimen presents an indisputably bold strike, virtually no evidence of weakness to the designs, and traces of die polish lines are still discernable amongst the protected regions. While it is difficult to speculate on the potential value of such a coin, especially one that has appeared so infrequently at auction, we would note that Friedberg cites this piece as previously bringing 34,000 CHF in a 1996 Zurich sale (likely Hess-Divo's October Auction 268), and as demand has not diminished for these illustrious multiple ducats, we expect plenty of interest from collectors as such. From the Paramount Collection."
This archbishop, who ruled 1554-60, issued single ducats up to this eight ducats. This type was also struck in 1559, according to Friedberg. The archbishopric was secularized in 1803 and passed to Austria in 1814.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 28 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 28.05 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-607 (Very Rare; this coin), Probszt-404, Numitor Collection-Unl., Zöttl-441.
- 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.
- [1]Bierrenbach, Cristiano and Warren Tucker, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3096, featuring the Paramount Collection of World & Ancient Coins, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2021.
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