Transylvania 1636 ducat Fr-382
This specimen was lot 2221 in Künker sale 439 (Osnabrück, March 2026), where it sold for €2,600 (about US$3,577 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"UNGARN, SIEBENBÜRGEN, FÜRSTEN Georg Rakoczi I., 1630-1648. Dukat 1636, Klausenburg. GOLD. RR Leicht gewellt, sehr schön. (principality of Transylvania, George Rakoczi I, 1630-48, ducat of 1636, Klausenburg mint. Very rare, slightly wavy, 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. Succession disputes often turned violent and George's 18 year reign was later remembered as a golden age for Transylvania. This type was struck 1631-37 but all dates are rare.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.5 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 3,39 g.
Catalog reference: KM 225, Fr-382; Resch 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, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Frühjahrs-Auktion 439: Gold Coins from around the world, particularly Denmark, Habsburg, Malta and Saxony | German Coins after 1871 including Coins from the Collection of Jürgen and Erika Schmidt, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2026.
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