Ferdinand III gold 5 Ducat 1640 AU Details (Obverse Repaired) NGC, Vienna mint, cf. KM912 (this date unlisted), Fr-216, Horsky-Unl., Köhler-Unl., Herinek-69. 17.13gm. Hans Jacob Stadler as mintmaster. Struck from 1/2 Taler dies (cf. KM839). A highly intriguing specimen and by all appearances of the highest rarity, with this date entirely unrecorded by the Standard Catalog of World Coins, and altogether missing from Horsky and Köhler's holdings, the type itself also absent from our recent sale of the Paramount Collection. Indeed, even the Deutsches Münzpreis- Jahrbuch documents only a single auction appearance of the date since the early 2000s, offered by Künker in their March 2002 Auction 73 (lot 6370, which also had a different cross initial mark). Though scantly documented dates for the issue are not an uncommon occurrence on their own (see, for instance, lot 32084 in our January 2020 Auction #3081), gold pieces of this size from the period offer an extreme rarity for collectors. Admitting light repair work or tooling in the right obverse field, the offering still retains a great clarity to the strike, not a trace of doubling or die shifts detectable. All-in-all a covetable opportunity, and perhaps the only chance specialists will have to add a piece to their collections.

HID09801242017

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