Numismatica Ars Classica have announced the results of the second auction in their $100 million ‘Traveller Collection’ series, the most expensive collection of coins ever to go to auction, including a 100 ducat ‘gold giant’ coin of Ferdinand III of Habsburg which sold for a remarkable CHF 2,388,750 (€2,564,072), with a hammer price of CHF 1,950,000 (€2,093,172). [That translates to $2,986,207.00 USD]
This 100 Ducat, minted in Prague, weighs an extraordinary 348.5g of fine gold, making it the largest denomination of European gold coins ever minted in historical times. Initially, the coin would have been minted as a donation from the young king to German princes who were to be won over to the Habsburg cause during the Thirty Years’ War. This auction result makes it the most expensive post-antique European gold coin ever sold at auction.
Other highlights from the auction included:
10 ducat ‘Portugalöser’ coin minted in Hamburg between 1553 and 1566 sold for CHF 367,500 (€394,687). This coin marks a turning point in German coinage as one of the first large coins produced in Germany, and only a few examples are known.
Transylvanian 10 Ducat coin from the city of Sibiu sold for CHF 490,000 (€526,002), tripling its initial auction estimate of CHF 150,000. This coin is a testimony of the Transylvanian civil war at the beginning of the 17th century and one of the greatest rarities in Transylvanian numismatics, having not appeared at auction for over 80 years.
5 ducat coin minted in 1937 in Kremnica, Slovakia, with only four specimens struck, was the second most expensive coin of the auction, sold for CHF 673,750 (€723,648).
20 ducat coin from Dresden, Germany —the only known specimen minted in 1663 —sold for CHF 171,500 (€184,222), more than double the initial auction estimate of CHF 75,000.
Polish 10 ducat coin minted in CieszynA (Teschen) in 1650 sold for 7 times the initial auction estimate of CHF 20,000, fetching CHF 183,750 (€197,369). This extremely rare coin portrays the bust of the Duchess Elisabeth Lukretia of Teschen, who fought a 13-year-long legal battle to obtain back her property rights of the Duchy of Teschen from the Crown of Bohemia after the death of her brother Frederick Willian, the last male heir of the Teschen line of the Silesian Piasts.
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