Switzerland 1996 500 francs
This specimen was lot 52630 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Pittsburgh, PA, August 2023), where it sold for $3,600. The catalog description[1] noted, "SWITZERLAND. Luzern (Lucerne). Sempach Shooting Festival Gold 500 Francs, 1996-HF. Switzerland (Hans Frei) Mint. NGC PROOF-70 Ultra Cameo. Issued for the Cantonal shooting festival held in Sempach. An exceptionally flawless and wholly attractive example, this specimen radiates with mirrored brilliance in the fields and supreme frosting upon the devices. From the Robert C. Knepper Collection." This NCLT was issued for the Luzern shooting festival. Shooting festival medals/coins are a Swiss tradition going back before confederation in 1848. The early ones (before World War One) were struck to the standard of a silver five francs and circulated as such even tho they bore no denomination. Later ones are strictly collector items with no face value and should be classed as medals, not coins. They are not listed in the regular SCWC. This one is accompanied by a silver fifty francs (KM XS48). It was struck not at the mythical "Hans Frei" mint but at Huguenin Frères in Le Locle, which declared bankruptcy in November 2022 after three company officers were arrested for embezzlement.
Recorded mintage: 96.
Specification: 13 g, 0.900 fine gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-514E; KMX-S49; HMZ-2-1347B; Hab-52.
- 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.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Unusual World Coins, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- Richter, Jürg, and Ruedi Kunzmann, Neuer HMZ-Katalog, Band 2: Die Münzen der Schweiz und Liechtensteins 15//16. Jahrhundert bis Gegenwart, Regenstauf, Germany: H. Gietl Verlag GmbH, 2006.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2023 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
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