Saxony 1717-IGS 3 ducats Fr-2777
This specimen was lot 2109 in Künker sale 352 (Osnabruck, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €36,000 (about US$50,101 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SACHSEN, KURFÜRSTENTUM, Friedrich August I. 1694-1733 (August der Starke). 3 Dukaten 1717, Dresden. 10.41 g. Geprägt mit den Stempeln des 1/4 Reichstalers. ᵹ D · G : FRID · AUG · REX POL · DUX SAX · I : C : M : A : & W : Geharnischtes Brustbild r. mit Lorbeerkranz und umgelegtem Mantel//SAC · ROM · IMP · ARCHIM · ET ELECT · 1717 : Gekröntes, vierfeldiges Wappen Polen/Litauen mit dem kur- und herzöglich sächsischen Wappen als Mittelschild, zu den Seiten Palmzweige, unten die Signatur I : G : S : und Münzzeichen Zainhaken (Johann Georg Schomburg, Münzmeister in Dresden 1716-1734). GOLD. Von größter Seltenheit. Attraktives Exemplar, fast vorzüglich. Erworben 1957 von privat. (Germany, electorate of Saxony, Frederick Augustus I (Augustus the Strong), triple ducat of 1717, Dresden mint, struck using quarter thaler dies. Obverse: laureate, armored and mantled bust right; reverse: crowned, quartered arms of Poland, Lithuania and Saxony in a palm wreath, mintmaster's initials below. Extremely rare, attractive example, about extremely fine. Purchased privately in 1957.)"
This rare type was also struck in 1719 and 1721. The exhaustion of the fighting in Poland rendered the Saxon state prostrate, and most of the ducats of this period are rare. Prosperity (and high mintages) would not return until the reign of Friedrich August III (1763-1806).
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 10.50 g, 0.986 fine gold.
Catalog reference: KM 833, Fr-2777; Kahnt 33.
- 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]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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