Transylvania 1724 ducat Fr-520
This specimen was lot 5993 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €2,000 (about US$2,585 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"RÖMISCH-DEUTSCHES REICH, Karl VI. 1711-1740. Dukat 1724, Karlsburg, für Siebenbürgen. GOLD. Fast vorzüglich. Erworben 1960 bei der Tiroler Münzhandlung, Innsbruck. (Holy Roman Empire, Charles VI, 1711-40, ducat of 1724, Karlsburg mint, for Transylvania. About extremely fine.)"
While the ducats of the seventeenth century were issued by the local princes and vary widely in design, by the reign of Charles VI (father of Maria Theresia), Transylvania was firmly under Hapsburg control. Friedberg lumps all the ducats of this reign under one catalog number while the SCWC divides them into eight types to account for their considerable variation. The design is very similar to the regular ducats of Austria but the reverse legend states, "PRINC.TRANSYL." in addition to the emperor's other titles. This ducat was struck 1721-28 and is one of several types struck for Charles VI (KM 551, 556, 563, A574, 574, 581, 587, 588). None are cheap.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.50 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 3.44 g.
Catalog reference: KM 574, Fr-520; Herinek 208.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- 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, Katalog 386: Brakteaten | Mainz | Bibliothek Prof. Dr. Niklot Klüßendorf | Mittelalter und Neuzeit | Goldprägungen | Deutsche Münzen ab 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2023.
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