Silesia-Liegnitz-Brieg 1610-CT 2 ducats Fr-3164
This specimen was lot 258 in Künker sale 400 (Berlin, February 2024), where it sold for €12,000 (about US$15,568 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCHLESIEN, LIEGNITZ-BRIEG, HERZOGTUM, Johann Christian und Georg Rudolf, 1602-1621. 2 Dukaten 1610, CT, Reichenstein. In US-Plastikholder der NGC mit der Bewertung MS 61 (6862161-003). GOLD. RR Winz. Randfehler, vorzüglich. (Germany, Silesia, duchy of Liegnitz-Brieg, John Christian and George Rudolf, 1602-21, double ducat of 1610, Reichenstein mint. Graded NGC MS61, very rare, minor edge defects, extremely fine.)"
This pair of brothers issued numerous gold coins. This design was used on ten ducats (Fr-3157), six ducats (Fr-3158), five ducats (Fr-3159), four ducats (Fr-3160), three ducats (Fr-3162), double ducat (Fr-3164, round, shown here, and Fr-3165, klippe) and single ducat (Fr-3166) of 1609-19.
Silesia is considered a German State even tho the province was then under Austrian rule and is now in Poland. This rare type was struck in 1610 and 1613. John Christian was raised a Lutheran and became a Calvinist as a adult. Silesia, tho under Hapsburg rule, was then mostly Protestant. He supported Frederick V against Ferdinand II and was forced to go into exile after the Protestants were crushed at the battle of the White Mountain in 1620.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 7 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 6.92 g.
Catalog reference: KM 105 (klippe), KM 84 (round, also struck 1609), Fr-3164; F. u. S. 1451.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- 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.
- [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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