View source for Danzig 1645-GR 4 ducats Fr-20

[[Image:H3096-30425o.jpg|300px|thumb|Heritage sale 3096, lot 30425]]
[[Image:H3096-30425r.jpg|300px|thumb]]
[[Image:Thorn 1648.jpg|400px|thumb|Thorn and Danzig in 1648]]

This specimen was lot 30425 in Heritage auction 3096 (Dallas, TX, March 2021), where it sold for $72,000. The catalog description<sup>[1]</sup> noted, <blockquote>"Danzig "City View" 4 Ducat. [[Poland]]: Danzig. Wladislaw IV gold 4 Ducat 1645-GR AU Details (Obverse Graffiti) NGC, Danzig mint. Gerhard Rogge as mintmaster. A Baroque masterpiece of Polish numismatics, this outstanding multiple Ducat "donative" issue represents the decision of the city council of Danzig to change the design of circulating coinage from the heraldic city arms to a detailed city panorama with several identifiable structures: the main town hall; the churches of St. Mary and St. John; the city gates and fortifications; and rays emerging from the sky above, symbolic of the divine protection over the city, which had managed to escape the Thirty Years' War unscathed. The designation of "Obverse Graffiti" on the present example would appear to refer to the minute engraved "IIII" that appears in the field to the right of the portrait, a notation of value that is almost certainly contemporary and should be considered relatively inconsequential. Overall the quality is superb, the surfaces revealing only the barest hints of circulation, with full, vibrant luster cascading through the fields. The strike is crisp and defined, the ornate lace collar delicately arranged over the armor beneath, the view of Danzig extraordinarily elegant, and over the whole of the piece is draped a wholesome and attractive harvest-gold tone.

<p>Rarely encountered outside of larger, institutional collections (including the National Museum in Warsaw, the Czapski Family Collection in Krakow, the Ossolineaum in Wroclow, the Archaeological and Ethnographical Museum in Lodz, and the Hermitage), we have been able to locate only one other example in this weight presented at auction in recent decades, the type altogether missing from both the Karolkiewicz Collection and Hess-Divo's Auction 288, Goldmünzen von Danzig. As such an undeniable target for Polish numismatists. Ex. Künker Auction 87 (September 2003, Lot 2185). From the Paramount Collection."</p></blockquote> The SCWC lists this for 1641-45, along with KM 36 ([[Danzig 1642 3 ducats Fr-21|3 ducat]]) for 1634, 1640-42, 1647; KM 35 (2 ducat) for 1642, 1647; KM 20.3 (ducat) for 1639-47; KM 27 (thaler, Dav-4356) for 1640-48. On Wladyslaw's death in 1648, aged 52 years, he was succeeded by his half brother [[Danzig 1649-GR ducat Fr-24|Jan Casimir]].

''Recorded mintage:'' unknown.

''Specification:'' 14 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 13.84 g. 

''Catalog reference:'' KM 37, Fr-20, HCz-1851 (R2), cf. Gum-1607 (RR; this date unlisted), Kaminski/Kurpiewski-253 (R3), Chelminski-642, Parchimowicz-D14, CNG-257, Dutkowski-266 (R5).

''[[Bibliography|Source:]]''
* 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. 
* Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, ''Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed.,'' Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
* <sup>[1]</sup>Bierrenbach, Cristiano and Warren Tucker, ''Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3096, featuring the Paramount Collection of World & Ancient Coins,'' Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2021.

''Link to:''
* [[Danzig 1642 3 ducats Fr-21]] Wladyslaw IV
* [[Danzig 1644-GR IH 10 ducats Fr-16]] Wladyslaw IV
* [[Danzig 1648-GR ducat Fr-15|1648-GR ducat, Wladyslaw IV]]
* [[Danzig (1648) 4 ducats Fr-29|(1648) 4 ducats, Jan Casimir]]
* [[Coins and currency dated 1645]]

[[Category:Selections from Heritage sale 3096]][[Category: Gold ducats of Europe]]