Switzerland 1999 500 francs
This specimen was lot 2788 in Sincona sale 90 (Zürich, May 2024), where it sold for 1,500 CHF (about US$1,982 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCHWEIZ Schützentaler, Schützenmedaillen & Schützenvaria, 500 Franken 1999 HF, Le Locle. Sion. 17. Walliser Kantonalschützenfest. Sehr selten. Nur 99 Exemplare geprägt. NGC PF68 ULTRA CAMEO. (Switzerland, shooting thalers and medals, 500 francs of 1999, Le Locle mint. Valais shooting festival. Very rare. Only 99 pieces struck. Graded NGC PF-68 ULTRA CAMEO.)"
This NCLT was privately issued for the Sion shooting festival. Shooting festival medals/coins are a Swiss tradition going back before confederation in 1848. The early ones (before World War One) were struck to the standard of a silver five francs and circulated as such even tho they bore no denomination. This one was struck at Huguenin Frères in Le Locle, which declared bankruptcy in November 2022 after three company officers were arrested for embezzlement. Later ones are strictly collector items with no face value and should be classed as medals, not coins. They are not listed in the regular SCWC. Many are accompanied by a silver fifty francs.
Recorded mintage: 99.
Specification: 13 g, 0.999 fine gold.
Catalog reference: KM XS58, Fr-S20 (formerly Fr-514i), Häberling 61a.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Unusual World Coins, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- 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.
- Richter, Jürg, and Ruedi Kunzmann, Neuer HMZ-Katalog, Band 2: Die Münzen der Schweiz und Liechtensteins 15//16. Jahrhundert bis Gegenwart, Regenstauf, Germany: H. Gietl Verlag GmbH, 2006.
- [1]Richter, Jürg, SINCONA Auction 90, Münzen und Medaillen der Welt, Zurich: SINCONA AG, 2024.
Link to: