Transylvania 1605 10 ducats Fr-305
This specimen was lot 3367 in Künker sale 264 (Osnabrück, June 2015), where it sold for €30,000 (about US$38,754 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SIEBENBÜRGEN, FÜRSTEN Stephan Bocskai, 1604-1606. 10 Dukaten 1605. * STE : BOCHKAY : D : G : HVNGA : TRAN : Q3 : PRIN : ET : SICV : COMES Geharnischtes Brustbild r. mit Kalpag (Pelzhaube)//* DVLCE : EST : PRO : PATRIA : MORI : 1 : 6 : 0 : 5 Aus Wolken kommender, geharnischter Arm mit aufrecht stehendem Schwert, das von einem Band mit der Aufschrift PRO · DEO - ET · PATRIA umwunden ist. GOLD. Von großer Seltenheit. Bearbeitungsspuren, sehr schön. (principality of Transylvania, Stephan Bocskai, 1604-06, ten ducats of 1605. Obverse: armored bust in fur hat; reverse: armored arm brandishes a sword wrapped in a banner. Of the greatest rarity, tooled, very fine.)"
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. Like many Transylvanian ducats, this type was struck the one year only.
Recorded mintage: unknown but few.
Specification: 35 g, 0.986 fine gold, 1.11 troy oz AGW, this specimen 34.61 g.
Catalog reference: KM 18, Fr-305; Resch 3.
- 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, Catalog 264, Gold coins | Russian Coins and Medals | German Coins after 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2015.
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