Sayn-Altenkirchen 1741 2 ducats
This specimen was lot 251 in Künker sale 400 (Berlin, February 2024), where it sold for €7,000 (about US$9,081 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SAYN-ALTENKIRCHEN, GRAFSCHAFT, Karl Wilhelm Friedrich von Brandenburg-Ansbach, 1741-1757. 2 Dukaten 1741, Schwabach, auf den Erbanfall der Reichsgrafschaft, nach dem Tod von Herzog Wilhelm Heinrich von Sachsen-Eisenach. GOLD. RR Vorzüglich. (Germany, county of Sayn-Altenkirchen, Charles William Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach, 1741-57, double ducat of 1741, Schwabach mint, on the inheritance of the imperial county after the death of Duke Wilhelm Heinrich of Saxe-Eisenach. Very rare, extremely fine."
This county was created in 1648, when the county of Sayn-Wittgenstein was partitioned into Sayn-Altenkirchen and Sayn-Hachenburg. Sayn-Altenkirchen passed thru various hands until it was mediatized to Nassau-Weilburg in 1803. All its issues are rare.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 7 g, 0.986 fine gold, 25 mm diameter, this specimen 6,95 g.
Catalog reference: KM 23 (formerly KM 36.1), Fr-unlisted; Slg. Wilm. 995; M.-J./V. 423 a; Slg. Grüber (Auktion Künker 267) 4528.
- 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, Katalog 400: Selected löser of the Dukes of Guelph from the Friedrich Popken Collection | Numismatic treasures from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. "multiple portraits" from a Westphalian private collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
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