View source for Transylvania 1671-AC 10 ducats Fr-458

[[Image:H3096-30494o.jpg|300px|thumb|Heritage sale 3096, lot 30494]]
[[Image:H3096-30494r.jpg|300px|thumb]]

This specimen was lot 30494 in Heritage auction 3096 (Dallas, TX, March 2021), where it sold for $57,600. The catalog description<sup>[1]</sup> noted, <blockquote>"Superb 10 Ducat of [[Transylvania]] as an Ottoman Vassal State. Michael I Apafi gold 10 Ducat 1671-AC AU53 NGC, Klausenburg mint. From a chaotic period of Transylvanian history, in which the balance of power was under continuous fluctuation. Having ruled Transylvania uncontested since 1662, Michael I Apafi maintained the independence of his principality against the Holy Roman Empire through alliances with Hungarian rebels and the Ottoman Empire until the Ottomans were defeated at the walls of Vienna in 1683. He was ultimately forced to conclude a treaty directly with Leopold I, completed just a few years before his death in 1690. This rare and doubtlessly imposing mid-reign gold issue features a bold strike and no shortage of luster in the fields. One of approximately 5 total representatives that we have been able to locate at auction in recent decades, with this mint-date combination entirely missing from Resch, though an example is present in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest. From the Paramount Collection."</blockquote> Michael Apafi was a Ottoman puppet in the three-way war between the Austrians, the Turks and the native elite. This rare issue was accompanied by a thaler ([[Transylvania 1671-AC thaler Dav-4793|Dav-4793]]) and may have been struck from the same dies.

''Recorded mintage:'' unknown.

''Specification:'' 35 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 34.01 g. 

''Catalog reference:'' KM-A416 (Rare), Fr-458, Horsky-5359, Montenuovo-1061, Husz-642, cf. Resch-83 (there, with AF initials).

''[[Bibliography|Source:]]''
* 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.
* Adolf Resch, ''Siebenburgische Münzen und Medaillen von 1538 bis Gegenwart.'' Hermannstadt, 1901 (reprinted in Montreal, 1965).
* <sup>[1]</sup>Bierrenbach, Cristiano and Warren Tucker, ''Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3096, featuring the Paramount Collection of World & Ancient Coins,'' Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2021.

''Link to:''
* [[Transylvania 1670-AF 10 ducats Fr-430|1670-AF 10 ducats]]
* [[Transylvania 1671-AC thaler Dav-4793|1671-AC thaler]]
* [[Transylvania 1673-NE 6 denars KM-437]]
* [[Transylvania 1683-AI 10 ducats Fr-651|1683-AI klippe 10 ducats, Michael Apafi]]
* [[Coins and currency dated 1671]]

[[Category:Selections from Heritage sale 3096]][[Category: Gold ducats of Europe]]