Transylvania 1647-NB 10 ducats Fr-377
This specimen was lot 2105 in Sincona sale 25 (Zürich, October 2015), where it sold for 80,000 CHF (about US$98,818 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"Georg I. Rakoczi, 1630-1648 10 Ducats 1647. Nagybanya-Neustadt GEORG-RAKo - -D:G-PRI-TRA- Armoured half-length bust to r. with Kalpaq (fur cap). Shouldered sceptre in r. hand. Rev. PAR-REG-HVNDOM-ET-SI:COMES-1647 Crowned arms on decorative frame, on the sides mint initals N - B. Extremely rare. Very fine to extremely 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.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 35 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 34.36 g.
Catalog reference: Huszar 480, Fr-377, KM 268.
- 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.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [1]Richter, Jürg, Ruedi Kunzmann and Arne Kirsch, Numismatic Rarities, Auction 25, Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2015.
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