Got this from Auction World...... AV Dukat 1824 Berlin Mint Stolberg-Wernigerode/ Grafschaft Count Heinrich XXIII 1824-54 This is a rarely seen coin....
Love the deer on the reverse. And the obverse portrait is very well done. But, boy, does Count Heinrich have a thick neck!
Thank everyone for nice comments Seems strange/ some references list coin with Count as Heinrich XII/ while Krause correctly states he is Graf Heinrich XXIII. The mintage for the 1818 AV Dukat was 308/ no mintage figures for 1824 Dukat. John
Btw, According to "The coins and medals of the House of Stolberg and the history of its coinage" of K. Friederich, the dukat was issued as a representative coinage in the year of the inauguration of the reign. It is the only coin from the reign of Henry XII. Nothing is said here about the coinage. As I said, a superb coin
Stunning. Looks quite prooflike. They graded it pretty strictly- I'd have expected just a few more marks on an MS61.
I also found that with a AV Dukat from Rostock graded by NGC Germany as MS-61. I think European/ UK/ Japanese NGC firms grade far stricter then their US counterparts. This makes sense since grading is more conservative outside of US, where its more lax.... So, I agree with you 100 percent.
Not the OP but I have won several lots from Auction World in the past--the same auction in fact but not such a nice piece . They are super easy to work with (and if there are questions they have someone who can easily communicate in English via email). In the past I have done Paypal for smaller lots or bank wires which my US institution delivered in yen. More recently I have opened a Wise (Transferwise) account and send it directly for much less. I keep my account in dollars (either a balance or they can withdraw from a linked account if you wish) and they convert/send in yen at good exchange rates. The other two Japanese auction houses I have purchased from I have just sent wires from either my bank or credit union. Not cost effective for lesser priced lots and unfortunately they don't have the Wise option (I'm fuzzy on the details but if I am entering the banking information it's more like a wire and the process was not supported due to costs, AW is different as they have an actual Wise account too). In any case a wire from your US account in dollars can be delivered via wire in yen. It requires a little extra work, but some things are worth it. @panzerman may have a different way, but the ability to use Wise (or even Paypal) along with sending wires makes these auction houses more accessible. I have done similar with a few in Europe too. Soooo many ways to spend money.
They want you to send wire in Jap. yen to their bank. I like it much better when auction houses accept payment via bank draft/ its way cheaper/ easier.
Problem is..........my pockets are deep/ but empty That is the problem for all average collectors/ the "Tyrant" guy has billions to spend.
Hopefully the Dollar is strong vs the Japanese Yen. I've been happy with the way our Dollar is now equal in value to the Euro. It's leveled the playing field when I bid on coins on Italian eBay.