Prussia 1766-A 2 friedrichs d'or Fr-2405

Künker sale 385, lot 3507

This specimen was lot 3507 in Künker sale 385 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €6,500 (about US$8,399 including buyer's fees). The catalog description^[1] noted,

"BRANDENBURG-PREUSSEN, PREUSSEN, KÖNIGREICH, Friedrich II. der Große, 1740-1786. Doppelter Friedrichs d'or 1766, A, Berlin. GOLD. RR Sehr schön. (kingdom of Prussia, Frederick II, 1740-86, double frederick d'or of 1766, Berlin mint. Very rare, very fine.)"

This type was struck in Berlin 1764-71 and 1775. It traded for ten thalers. Frederick the Great emerged victorious from the Seven Years War but it was a very near thing, with only the death of the empress Elizabeth in 1761 saving Prussia from utter destruction.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 13.36 g, 0.903 fine gold, this specimen 13.26 g.

Catalog reference: KM 310, Fr-2405; Olding 432; Kluge 109.3.

Source:

• Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
• 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.
• ^[1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 385: Absolutismus, Aufklärung und Französische Revolution im Spiegel von Münzen und Medaillen - Die Sammlung Bader, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2023.

Link to:

• 1765-A doppelter friedrichs d'or
• 1766-B kreuzer
• 1766-A 1/48 thaler
• 1766-B 1/12 thaler
• 1766-F 1/12 thaler
• 1766-B 1/6 thaler
• 1766-A half thaler
• 1766-A thaler
• 1766 "Levant" thaler
• 1766-B halb friedrichs d'or
• 1767-A doppelter friedrichs d'or
• Coins and currency dated 1766