Transylvania 1605-NB ducat Fr-320
This specimen was lot 3299 in Künker sale 294 (Osnabruck, Germany, July 2017), where it sold for €12,000 (about US$16,174 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"UNGARN, SiebenbürgEN, fürSTEN, Stephan Bocskai, 1604-1606. Dukat 1605, NB, Nagybánya. STEPHA : BOCHKAY : PR · TRAN · SYL · Madonna mit Kind auf dem rechten Arm sitzt v. v. auf Mondsichel//: S : LADISLAVS : - : REX : 1605 : - : Der gekrönte und geharnischte St. Ladislaus steht v. v. in der Rechten Lanze, in der Linken Reichsapfel, zu den Seiten das geteilte Münzstättenzeichen N - B. GOLD. Von großer Seltenheit. vorzüglich-Stempelglanz. (principality of Transylvania, Stephen Bocskai, 1604-06, ducat of 1605, Nagybánya mint. Obverse: Madonna and Child seated on the crescent moon; reverse: St. Ladislaus stands with lance and orb, dividing mintmark. Very rare, extremely fine to uncirculated.)"
This ducat comes in two varieties: KM 15 (Madonna on obverse, shown here), KM 16 (Madonna on reverse). The princes of Transylvania were sandwiched between the Ottoman Empire to the south and the Hapsburg dominions to the west and attempted to maintain independence from both. The Hapsburgs reconquered Hungary from the Turks in the 1680's and ended Transylvanian autonomy.
Recorded Mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.5 g, 0.986 fine gold, .110 troy oz AGW, this specimen 3.54 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-320; Resch 4, KM 15.
- 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.
- Adolf Resch, Siebenburgische Münzen und Medaillen von 1538 bis Gegenwart. Hermannstadt, 1901 (reprinted in Montreal, 1965).
- [1]Künker Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Katalog 294: Goldprägungen | Deutsche Münzen ab 1871 | Russische Münzen und Medaillen, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2017.
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