Transylvania 1614 ducat Fr-350
This specimen was lot 30304 in Heritage sale 3029 (New York, January 2014), where it sold for $10,575. The catalog description[1] noted, "Wonderfully Detailed Gabriel Bethlen gold Ducat 1614, Klausenburg mint, MS63 NGC. Obv. Bust right with feathered fur cap. Rev. Bethlen arms and date. A superb example, with boldly defined details, and lustrous, minimally marked surfaces. Very rare in this choice condition. Gabriel Bethlen ruled from 1613 to 1629, during the period of the Thir[t]y Years War. Ex: 'Colonel' E.H.R. Green; Green Estate' Partnership of Eric P Newman / B.G. Johnson." 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. This type is listed for 1613-18.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.5 g, 0.986 fine gold, .110 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: KM 102, Fr-350.
- 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]Bierrenbach, Cristiano, Stuart Levine and Bruce Lorich, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3029, featuring Selections from the Eric P. Newman Collection, Part III, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2013.
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