New Guinea 1895-A 10 mark
This specimen was lot 6585 in Künker sale 354 (Osnabrück, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €48,000 (about US$66,802 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"REICHSGOLDMÜNZEN, DEUTSCH-NEU-GUINEA. 10 Neu-Guinea Mark 1895, A. In US-Plastikholder der NGC mit der Bewertung MS 65 (5959984-001). RR Nur 2.000 Exemplare geprägt. Vorzüglich-Stempelglanz. (Germany, German New Guinea, ten mark of 1895. Graded NGC MS-65. Very rare, only 2,000 examples struck, extremely fine to uncirculated.)"
This is a popular, classic, rare and expensive gold piece. A gold twenty mark piece also exists, along with silver half mark, mark, two mark and five mark pieces. The German colony of New Guinea fell to the Australians in 1914 and was held by them until 1975, when the area became part of Papua New Guinea. Mineral wealth abounds but the climate and terrain are harsh and the country remains poor.
Recorded mintage: 2,000.
Specification: 3.98 g, 0.900 fine gold, .115 troy oz AGW.
Catalog reference: KM 8, J. 708.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Jaeger, Kurt, Die Deutschen Münzen seit 1871, Basel: Münzen und Medaillen AG, 1982.
- 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 354: Munzen und Medaillen aus Mittelalter und Neuzeit u. a. Braunschweig-Luneburg. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2021.
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