Brunswick-Blankenburg 1728-HCH 1/4 ducat Fr-687
This specimen was lot 30191 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Chicago, August 2022), where it sold for $1,800. The catalog description[1] noted, "GERMANY. Brunswick-Luneburg: Brunswick. 1/4 Ducat, 1728-HCH. Brunswick Mint. Ludwig Rudolph (as Prince of Blankenburg). PCGS MS-63. An EXTREMELY RARE fractional gold issue, this shimmering specimen must undoubtedly be one of the finest extant. The strike is crisp and quite clear, and the luster radiates throughout. The nav[e]l of the wildman, rather interestingly, is quite pronounced, and the only real aspect needing to be mentioned is the slight planchet flaw at the upper left edge of the obverse. From the Robert C. Knepper Collection." Altho the wild man appears on many series of North German thalers, he rarely appears on gold coins. This scarce type is listed for Brunswick-Blankenburg for 1728 only altho some come undated. The duke succeeded to Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel in 1731 and merged the two duchies, ending the -Blankenburg series.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.875 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 0.86 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-687; KM-35; Welter-2452.
- 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.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The 2022 ANA Auction - Ancients & World Coins - Featuring The Salton Collection Part III, the Augustana Collection and the Robert C. Knepper Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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