Munster 1638-EK 10 ducats Fr-1763a
This specimen was lot 508 in Künker Auction 424 (Osnabrück, July 2025), where it sold for €16,000 (about US$22,656 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"DEUTSCHE MÜNZEN UND MEDAILLEN · MÜNSTER, BISTUM Ferdinand von Bayern, 1612-1650. 10 Dukaten 1638, Münster. · FERDINAND · ELECT · COL · EPS · MONAST · BAVA · DVX · Gekröntes und verziertes, vierfeldiges Wappen (Bayern, Pfalz / Pfalz, Bayern) mit Mittelschild von Münster, dahinter Krummstab und Schwert gekreuzt//· S · PAVLVS · - · PATRON · - MONASTERIEN Stadtansicht, darüber Kniebild des Heiligen Paulus mit Schwert und Buch, unten die Signatur EK (Engelbert Ketteler, Münzmeister in Münster 1636-1661) und die Jahreszahl 1638. GOLD. Von allergrößter Seltenheit. Min. Henkelspur, mit Punze "10" auf der Rückseite, fast sehr schön. Exemplar der Auktion Fritz Rudolf Künker 331, Berlin 2020, Nr. 384. (Germany, bishopric of Münster, Ferdinand of Bavaria, 1612-50, ten ducats of 1638, Münster mint. Obverse: mitred and quartered arms of Bavaria and Pfalz with the escutcheon of Münster over crossed crosier and sword; reverse: St. Paul stands with book and sword behind a city view of Münster, date below. Extremely rare, small mount mark, with "10" punched into the reverse, about very fine.)"
This extremely rare issue, accompanied by a five ducats (Fr-1764), is not listed in the SCWC. The town and the region were thoroughly devastated by the Thirty Years War and never recovered. The bishop succeeded in establishing the Counter-Reformation there and holding the region for the Catholic Church. Ferdinand was also bishop of Hildesheim, Liege and Paderborn and archbishop of Cologne.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 34.9 g, 0.986 fine gold; this specimen 34,40 g.
Catalog reference: KM unlisted, Fr-1763 a ("Very rare"); Schulze - (see 18); Witt. 1219 Anm.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- 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.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 424: Münster, Osnabrück, and the Peace of Westphalia | The Fuggers, Leuchtenberg, and Passau | The Collection of a German Manufacturer and History Enthusiast, Part 3, e.g., Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2025.
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