Serbia 1879 20 dinara
This specimen was lot 25496 in Heritage sale 3019 (Chicago, April 2012), where it sold for $1,495. The catalog description[1] noted, "Milan I gold 20 Dinara 1879A, MS61 NGC, full original mint luster with noticeable contact marks, very scarce type in mint state." The "A" mintmark plus the privy marks strongly suggest that this coin was struck in Paris. It matches the standard of the contemporary French twenty francs and a gold issue was an instant method of gaining respect for the currency of a new and fragile state such as Serbia. The next issue of gold was in 1882 (KM 16 and 17). The kingdom, fully independent only in 1878, lasted only until World War One, when it was occupied by the Austrians. After the war, it was reconstituted as Yugoslavia.
Recorded mintage: 50,000.
Specification: 6.45 g, 0.900 fine gold, .186 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: KM 14.
- [1]Tucker, Warren, and Cristiano Bierrenbach, World and Ancient Coins sale 3019, Dallas: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2012.
- 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.
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