Utrecht 1492 ducat Fr-193
This specimen was lot 30218 in Heritage sale 3029 (New York, January 2014), where it sold for $19,975. The catalog description[1] noted, "Original and Extremely Rare Utrecht-Bishopric. David of Burgundy gold Florin 1492, Dorestad mint, XF45 NGC. MO'*nO' | AVR'*ЄA | PI'*TRA | IЄCT'*"92 (inverted 7 over 7), Shield of Burgundy over long cross / ЄLЄGIT * DA | VIT * SW' SVV', King David on gothic throne playing harp, the arms of Utrecht at his feet. A lovely example with orange-gold surfaces that display thick frosty luster in the fields. Interestingly, the reverse die was rotated 90 degrees clockwise to the obverse when struck, but the result has left most of the design crisply rendered with only slight doubling noted along the obverse legends. Some debris, located within the protected crevasses, confirms originality. An extremely rare type by every measure, with no traceable records of auction sales within at least the past decade. Ex: "Colonel" E.H.R. Green; Green Estate' Partnership of Eric P Newman / B.G. Johnson." The bishops of Utrecht issued gold coinage for their realm on occasion during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The last issue was in 1517, just prior to the wholesale conversion of the province to Protestantism. The familiar provincial coinage (see Fr-234) began with the States' Revolt of 1579.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.5 g, 0.986 fine gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-193, Levinson-III-231 (R4).
- 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.
- Levinson, Robert, The Early Dated Coins of Europe, 1234-1500: An Illustrated Catalogue and Guide to dated medieval coinage. Clifton, NJ: Coin & Currency Institute, 2007.
- [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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