Transylvania 1759 1/2 ducat Fr-545
This specimen was lot 3461 in Künker sale 264 (Osnabrück, June 2015), where it sold for €2,400 (about US$3,100 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"Maria Theresia, 1740-1780. 1/2 Dukat 1759, Karlsburg. GOLD. RR Sehr schön/vorzüglich. (Austria, Maria Theresia, 1740-80, half ducat of 1759, Karlsburg mint. Rare, very fine to extremely fine.)"
This tiny half ducat was struck for the redoubtable Maria Theresia 1750-65. A later type with a veiled bust (KM 655) was minted 1770-80 but has the same Friedberg number. Unlike the Empire, where Maria Theresia had to rule thru her husband Franz (and later her son Joseph), she was queen of Hungary outright.
Reported Mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.75 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 1.74 g.
Catalog reference: Eypeltauer 355 a; Fr-545, KM 625.
- 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.
- Herinek, Gerhard, Austria Münzkatalog: Munzen ab 1745 und Banknoten ab 1759, 49. Auflage, Vienna: Christine Steyrer Verlag, 2022.
- Adolf Resch, Siebenburgische Münzen und Medaillen von 1538 bis Gegenwart. Hermannstadt, 1901 (reprinted in Montreal, 1965).
- [2]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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