Won this while I was off in dreamland (I had put in a proxybid) AV Dukat 1697 Bern Mint Swiss Kantons/ Bern obv: Crowned Arms of Bern/ Brown Bear (symbol for Bern) in cartouche/ Rev: Topless male/ female holding drapes. 23mm. 3.46g. .986 Bern was part of a Swiss Confederation of 13 Kantons/ something akin to NATO/ however instead of Russia the enemy was Austria/HRE and in 1400s Burgundy, esp. Charles the Bold. This coin shows the artistic talents of the Mint masters/ engravers of the Baroque era.
John, the attraction to coinage like this needs no explanation . Great artwork and engraving speaks for itself .
Amazing artwork and engraving. Found it in my 17th Century word coin catalog. KM#62, 1697, Ducat, high priority of gold .986 gold, weight- 3.5 grams. May I ask what grade this coin has ?
You and I would have had a tough time spending them, had we been around in 1697 I saw a 20 Dukaten piece from Sincona/ /last auction/ too die for......400K I ended up winning it for 2200 SFRCS Which was the "Starting bid" In the previous Sincona Auction 5/2016 " a Special Bern Collection" one in lesser quality sold for 6K. Sincona is a way better known auctionhouse. Auctions are strange in many ways, often most coins are hammered way over estimates/ in rare cases you end up stealing a coin John
Pretty close, sadly I live in Canada where we have to pay 1.35 for a US$/ 1.60 for a EURO/ you are so lucky to be in the USA.
