I was wondering why so many Austrian ducats were restruck with the 1915 date? What years did these restrikes occur? Do these have any numismatic value, or are they simply too common to be worth more than bullion?
Numismatic value- no, not really - not for the restrikes- though they're worth a modest premium over spot ("melt") price. I do like these. My first gold coin, when I was 15 years old, was one of these. They're nice for jewelry, too, since they have a relatively largish diameter for their bullion content, being struck on somewhat thin flans. I later had a prooflike "1915" four-ducat restrike. In terms of visual impact and "bang for the buck" in a bullion gold coin, those are hard to beat. I'm surprised I haven't seen any blinged-out rappers wearing those in big, flashy pendants, as they're such big, flashy coins. PS- I don't remember the exact dates those "1915" ducats were restruck, though I seem to recall it was largely since the 1950s or so? Nor do I really!ly know why the Austrian mint liked to do this "frozen date" thing. Maybe just to create trade coinage. I suspect it's a similar thing to the popular "1780" Maria Theresia thaler restrikes, which of course were struck in the millions in the 20th century and circulated the world over. Nowadays countries just issue 1-ounce bullion coins, but back in the mid-20th century before bullion issues like Krugerrands and Maple Leafs and such became a thing, I guess these Austrian restrikes were a similar kind of thing- for trade as bullion.
The Austrian Mint still makes those - the 1 ducat and 4 ducats coins (gold), both with that "frozen" 1915 date. They also make the Maria Theresia Taler (silver) every year, always with the 1780 date ... Christian
