Wurttemberg 1808-CH ducat Fr-3607
This specimen was lot 2173 in Künker sale 352 (Osnabruck, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €13,000 (about US$18,092 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"WÜRTTEMBERG, KONIGREICH, Friedrich II. (I.), 1797-1806-1816. Dukat 1808. Geharnischtes Brustbild l. mit umgelegtem Mantel//Gekrönter Löwe und Hirsch halten das gekrönte, zweifeldige Wappen, im Abschnitt die geteilte Jahreszahl 18 - 08 ., darunter die Signatur C · H · (Johann Christian Heuglin, Münzmeister in Stuttgart 1783-1808). Mit schräg gerippten Rand. GOLD. Von großer Seltenheit. Kl. Stempelfehler, vorzüglich-Stempelglanz. Erworben 1931 bei der Firma Julius Jenke, München. (Germany, kingdom of Wurttemberg, Frederick II, (1797)-1806-16, ducat of 1808. Obverse: armored and mantled bust left; reverse: crowned lion and stag support crowned and divided arms, dividing the date, mintmaster's initials below, with reeded edge. Extremely rare. Minor die crack, extremely fine to uncirculated. Bought from Julius Jenke in 1931.)"
Frederick, who ascended the throne of Württemberg as a duke, was promoted to king by Napoleon in 1806. He did quite well out of Napoleon's reorganization of Germany and found his realm doubled in size. A timely switching of sides allowed him to keep his gains at the Congress of Vienna. His gold coinage is very scanty. The ducats of his successor, Wilhelm I, are scarce but appear in auctions with some frequency.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.50 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 3,47 g.
Catalog reference: KM 503, Divo/S. 224 (shown with plain edge); Fr-3607; Schl. 909.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- 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.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Künker Auktion 352: Die Sammlung Hermann Schwarz: Faszination des gepragten Goldes. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2021.
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