Cologne 1750-IK S ducat Fr-837
This specimen was lot 1952 in Künker sale 352 (Osnabruck, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €8,500 (about US$11,830 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"KÖLN, ERZBISTUM, Clemens August von Bayern, 1723-1761. Dukat 1750, Bonn. Ehrengeschenk des Deutschen Ordens für den Kurfürsten anläßlich seines 50. Geburtstags. GOLD. Von großer Seltenheit. Winz. Druckstellen, vorzüglich. Erworben 1958 bei der Firma Julius Jenke, München. (Germany, archbishopric of Cologne, Clement Augustus of Bavaria, 1723-61, ducat of 1750, Bonn mint. A gift from the Teutonic Order for the Elector on the occasion of his 50th birthday. Extremely rare, minor punch mark, extremely fine. Bought from Julius Jenke in 1958.)"
Both the city and the archbishopric were mediatized in 1801 and handed to the French Republic and later Napoleon's empire. At the Congress of Vienna, the city became part of the Prussian Rhineland. The archbishop issued three different ducats (KM 145, KM 146, KM 147) in 1750, presumably all for the same occasion. Clemens August was a committed pluralist, being simultaneously archbishop of Cologne and bishop of Paderborn, Munster, Hildesheim and Osnabruck and grandmaster of the Teutonic Order. The revenues from all of these states were needed to support his lavish building projects.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.50 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 3.45 g.
Catalog reference: KM 145, Fr-837; Noss 743.
- 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]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Künker Auktion 352: Die Sammlung Hermann Schwarz: Faszination des gepragten Goldes. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2021.
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