Denmark 1691-CW speciedaler Dav-3632
This specimen was lot 1113 in Stack's Bowers sale of the L. E. Bruun Collection (Copenhagen, September 2024), where it sold for €90,000 (about US$99,738 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"Visually Impressive Near-Gem with Bright Luster Throughout, Considered Unique in Private Hands, DENMARK. Speciedaler, 1691. Copenhagen Mint. Christian V. NGC MS-64. Mintmaster: Christian Wineke (CW). UNIQUE in private hands with only two publicly held in Copenhagen and Stockholm. The very unusual but amusing portrait of the king wasn't exactly flattering, and the EXTREME RARITY and the sublime condition suggest that the king opposed to this type being minted for circulation. Beautiful luster coats the surfaces, and the fine details are exquisitely impressed. An example that immediately captures one's attention given the incredible state of preservation.
The present example was previously owned by Henrik Henrichsen (1715 -1780), the son of a wealthy Icelandic merchant living in Copenhagen. He was academically immensely talented and had a prominent career as a jurist, a historian and as a state official. In 1747 he was ennobled under the name Hielmstierne. Hielmstierne, who was a member of the Royal Society of London and a number of other prestigious scientific societies, was a formidable collector of both coins, medals, paintings, prints and books and assisted in cataloging the coin collection of the Danish Kings. His daughter Agnete Marie (1752-1838) donated the library to the Royal Danish Library, the art collection to the royal art collections (today the National Gallery), and in 1812 the coin collection was sold to king Frederik VI on very favorable terms. Because of dire straits due to the economic crises after the Napoleonic wars most were however quickly sold off again to prominent collectors such as Preben Bille-Brahe, C. J. Thomsen, H. H. Frost and C. F. Schubart."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 28.77 g, 0.875 fine silver, this specimen 28.80 g.
Catalog reference: KM-411; Dav-3632; Hede-66; Sieg-63; Schou-10; Bruun-7063.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1600-1700, Galesburg, IL, 1974.
- Siegs Møntcatalog 2016: Danmark med Omrader, 48 ed., Frederikssund, Siegs Forlag ApS, 2015.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio, Jeremy Bostwick and Henrik Holt Christensen, The L. E. Bruun Collection - A Corpus of Scandinavian Monetary History Part I, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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