Teutonic Order 1666 2 ducats Fr-3385
This specimen was lot 3663 in Künker sale 264 (Osnabrück, June 2015), where it sold for €5,400 (about US$6,976 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"DEUTSCHER ORDEN IN MERGENTHEIM Johann Caspar von Ampringen, 1664-1684. 2 Dukaten 1666, Nürnberg. Dreifach behelmtes, vierfeldiges Wappen mit Mittelschild, oben der Hochmeisterschild//Madonna mit Zepter in der Rechten und dem Kind auf dem linken Arm steht v. v. umher Strahlenkranz. GOLD. RR Leichte Fassungsspuren, sehr schön. (Germany, Teutonic Order, grandmaster John Caspar of Ampringen, 1664-84, double ducat of 1666, Nuremberg mint. Obverse: triple helmeted quartered arms; reverse: Madonna and Child hold scepter. Rare, mount mark, very fine.)"
This type is accompanied by single (Fr-3386), five (Fr-3384b) and ten ducats (Fr-3384a), all rare. The major domains of the Teutonic Order were in Prussia, Livonia and Estonia (all lost by 1618) but they had estates in the Holy Roman Empire as well, where this double ducat likely originated.
Recorded mintage: unknown but rare.
Specification: 7 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 6.94 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-3385; Prokisch 162.
- 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 Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Catalog 264, Gold coins | Russian Coins and Medals | German Coins after 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2015.
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