Are you interested in Islamic coins? Then you should mark 7 October 2025 in your calendar. Auction 427 will feature a small but impressive collection of Ottoman and Turkish gold coins. Connoisseurs can look forward to 66 lots, covering the period from Selim I (sultan from 1512 to 1520) to the Turkish Republic in 1975. Moreover, the attractive ensemble includes a variety of historically interesting specimens, as well as great rarities and luxury pieces.

This special collection forms part of the general catalog presenting gold coins and medals from around the world. Kuenker's once again presents an extensive range of interesting lots, including several extremely rare pieces, some of which in excellent condition and / or of utmost historical and numismatic importance.

These include, for example, a 2.5 ducat of Gotthard Kettler. He became famous as the last Landmeister (Master) of the Teutonic Order in Livonia because he placed himself under the protection of Poland, converted to Protestantism and founded his own duchy using part of the former Order territory, having been forced to do so by a Russian war of aggression. The coin, which was probably created in Riga, still bears his old title Magister Livoniae, used by the Masters of the Teutonic Order in Livonia.

Are you enthusiastic about Gothic gold coins from the late Middle Ages? If so, auction 427 offers a fine selection of issues from Flanders, Aquitaine, France and England. Of particular note is a London sovereign of Elizabeth I, which was of course struck in early modern times while its style with the horror vacui roots in the late Middle Ages.

Two extremely rare ducats from the Austrian princes of Lobkowitz und Sprinzenstein are also particularly noteworthy. The wealth of such princes is illustrated by the fact that, in 1676, Lobkowitz donated 190,000(sic!) guldens to the imperial war chest to finance the war against France. Count Johann Ehrenreich von Sprinzenstein was also an expert in financial matters, and particularly in coinage. He served as Obersterblandmuenzmeister (chief mint master) in Upper and Lower Austria. By the way, you can still admire the dies of the 1717 ducat in the Castle Museum Linz, where they have been on permanent loan since 1979.

Of course, collectors of pieces from the German States will find an abundance of spectacular gold coins in auction 427. The offer includes, for instance, the quadruple ducat that the Bavarian estates presented to Elector Ferdinand Maria on the occasion of the birth of his son Ludwig Amadeus Victor on 6 April 1665. You will hardly find the name of the little prince in a work on Bavarian history, as he died just a few months later. This was not unusual in the 17th century. Henriette Adelaide, the wife of Elector Ferdinand Maria, lost four of her eight children while they were still toddlers.

A highlight of Brandenburg Prussian coinage is the 10-ducat portugaleser created on behalf of Joachim II in Berlin in 1570 to imitate the heavy Portuguese gold coins. Pay attention to the title that can be read on the obverse. It refers to Joachim II to as "Dux Prussie", i.e. Duke of Prussia. In fact, the Franconian line of the House of Hohenzollern held this title. However, Joachim enforced hereditary co-enfeoffment, which had a lasting impact on Prussian history.

Another noteworthy specimen is a Brunswick 10-ducat piece from 1706 with the portrait and the coat of arms of Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbuettel. Right above the coat of arms, it shows the prince's motto CONSTANTER (= constant).

The ducat issued by the city of Emden in 1694 is something very special. After all, the reverse mentions its weight. The fact that the coin was minted with the weight of a Hungarian ducat seems surprising at first glance. After all, the country had only been under Habsburg control again since 1687, and the Ottomans had not even yet recognized this. However, the Kremnica mint was under Habsburg control. There, they minted ducats that – since Kremnica was not part of the Empire – were permitted to deviate from the imperial coinage regulation. Kremnica ducats were slightly less pure. Emden, however, was located on imperial territory. So if Emden wanted to mint a ducat with lower fineness, this had to be clearly indicated.

A 12-fold ducat of the reformist bishop Wilhelm Anton von der Asseburg, created on the occasion of his election as bishop of Paderborn on 25 January 1763, is estimated at 125,000 euros. This extremely rare coin, which is probably the only specimen in private hands and was once owned by the House of Metternich, was minted with the dies of the konventionstaler.

The term "numisnautics" has established itself over the past few decades. It was coined by the German numismatist Wolf Mueller-Reichau when he and a few colleagues launched the magazine Flaschenpost (message in a bottle) as an information bulletin for the Numismatics Working Group in Germany. While ship depictions have long been a popular theme for collectors internationally, Flaschenpost drew the attention of many German collectors to questions about the history of nautical science that can be answered with the help of coins. Kuenker is pleased to offer the collection of a Berlin numisnautist, the first part of which is divided between auction catalogs 427 and 428. A second part will be auctioned in an upcoming eLive auction.

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