Saxe-Saalfeld 1717 ducat Fr-3004
This specimen was lot 25204 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2023), where it sold for $2,880. The catalog description[1] noted, "GERMANY. Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Ducat, 1717 (in chronogram). Saalfeld Mint. Johann Ernst VIII. NGC MS-61. Commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Reformation. Featuring the bust of the duke in side profile, and an almost facing bust of the reformer Martin Luther, this handsome specimen offers far superior quality than is generally encountered for the type, with glistening brilliance and a sharp, well centered strike. From the Augustana Collection." This is not an issue of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, that state not coming into existence until 1735. It is from its immediate predecessor Saxe-Saalfeld, whose duke obtained Coburg in that year. This commemorative ducat was accompanied by a groschen (KM 37) and a thaler (Dav-2738A).
Recorded mintage: unknown but rare.
Specification: 3.5 g, 0.986 fine gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-3004; KM-49; Whiting-292.
- 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]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The January 2023 NYINC Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Taraszka Collection and the Mark and Dottie Salton Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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