Switzerland 1997 500 francs
This specimen was lot 4390 in Sincona sale 87 (Zürich, October 2023), where it sold for 2,500 CHF (about US$3,367 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCHWEIZ Schützentaler, Schützenmedaillen & Schützenvaria, 500 Franken 1997, Le Locle. Neuhausen. Kantonal-Schützenfest. Sehr selten. Nur 97 Exemplare geprägt. NGC PF69. Prachtexemplar. Das durch NGC höchstbewertete Exemplar. (confederation of Switzerland, five hundred francs of 1997, Le Locle mint, Neuhauseon cantonal shooting festival. Very rare. Only 97 pieces struck, Cabinet piece, Finest certified by NGC.)"
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 XS50). It was struck at Huguenin Frères in Le Locle, which declared bankruptcy in November 2022 after three company officers were arrested for embezzlement.
Recorded mintage: 97.
Specification: 13 g, 0.999 fine gold.
Catalog reference: KMX-S51, Fr-S17 (formerly Fr-514f), Häberling 54.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Unusual World Coins, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- 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]Richter, Jürg, SINCONA Auction 87, World Coins and Medals, Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2023.
- 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.
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