Salzburg 1709 10 ducats Fr-840

Heritage sale 3096, lot 30096

This specimen was lot 30096 in Heritage auction 3096 (Dallas, TX, March 2021), where it sold for $144,000. The catalog description^[1] noted,

"An Eye-Catching Donative for Franz Anton's Election as Archbishop. Austria - Salzburg. Franz Anton gold 10 Ducat 1709 MS62+ NGC. The only certified representative of this elusive denomination, and a coin which seems to earn its nearly choice designation on the grounds of its glassy luster alone. Stated by Probszt to have been a "gift piece" (Geschenkstück) for Franz Anton's election as Archbishop, it is undoubtedly clear to see why this medium was chosen to produce treasured talismans for the event--the strike, crisp and carefully prepared, leaves nothing to the imagination; the heavenly figures of Saints Rupert and Virgilius (Franz Anton's forefathers in nurturing the Austrian flock) are expressed in the most loving detail, with faint die polish lines along their silhouettes heightening their otherworldly aura. Perhaps one of the few "un-original" features on this selection is the presence of red wax on the obverse (reverse as holdered), likely suggesting its plating as part of an old collection. Although we cannot speculate on how many pieces survived, we have not been able to find any other specimens in auction records. From the Paramount Collection."

The archbishop also issued a quarter thaler (KM 294), thaler (KM 295/296), quarter ducat (KM 297, also struck 1712-25), half ducat (KM 298, also struck 1715-22), ducat (KM 299, struck 1709-26), 2 ducats (KM 300), 5 ducats (KM 301), 10 ducats (KM 302) and 20 ducats (KM 303). Most of them are commemoratives.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 35 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 34.75 g.

Catalog reference: KM 302 (Rare; this coin), Fr-840 (Rare), Probszt-1946, Numitor Collection-Unl., Zöttl-2335.

Source:

• Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
• 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.
• Helmut Zöttl, Salzburg Münzen und Medaillen, 1500-1810, 2 vols. Salzburg: Verlag Fruhwald, 2008.
• ^[1]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:

• 1708 quarter thaler
• 1708 thaler
• 1709 kreuzer
• 1709 half thaler
• 1709 quarter ducat
• 1709 half ducat
• 1710 thaler
• 1710 ducat
• Coins and currency dated 1709