Salzburg 1565 6 ducats Fr-623
This specimen was lot 30089 in Heritage auction 3096 (Dallas, TX, March 2021), where it sold for $81,000. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Commendable 6 Ducat of Johann Jakob Khuen von Belasi. Austria - Salzburg. Johann Jakob Khuen von Belasi gold 6 Ducat 1565 MS62 NGC. An incredible representative of this scarce type, and a fitting selection for this Prince-Archbishop, who was known to have taken an acute interest in the coins of Salzburg. This particular issue perfected the confronted Saints design first introduced under Ernst von Bayern to such an extent that it was adopted, virtually unchanged, on the coinage of the city's next two Archbishoprics. And it is hardly a challenge to see why: whereas Ernst von Bayern's 2 Ducat coinage featured a much more crude and caricatured depiction of Saints Rupert and Virgilius, here their proportions are corrected and imbued with a much more lifelike quality, highlighted all the more so by the offers absolutely enviable presentation. Luster is visible over every inch of the surfaces, a quick turn of the hand confirming a well-preserved flan that was saved from any serious handling, along with a strike over both sides that is awe-inspiring. Although unrecognized by Friedberg in the same rarity tier as the 10, 12, or 20 Ducats of the same design, we have not been able to locate another example of this 6 Ducat at auction in the past several decades; while the Numitor Collection did contain a 12 Ducat piece, a 6 Ducat was notably missing from its holdings. A highly enticing piece that will easily garner the attention of collectors who have long awaited the opportunity to procure not just an example of the type, but a veritable Mint State specimen at that. From the Paramount Collection."
Johann Jakob Khuen von Belasi ruled 26 years (1560-86) and issued an extensive series of gold coins. The issue of 1565 included a twenty ducats (Fr-620), twelve ducats (Fr-61), ten ducats (Fr-622), six ducats (shown here) and four ducats (Fr-624). The archbishopric was secularized in 1803 and passed to Austria in 1814.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 21 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 20.77 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-623, Probszt-450, Numitor Collection-Unl., Zöttl-512.
- 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 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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