One of today's accomplishments at the ANA show today was buying a nice mid-17th century piece of gold that fits both my Prime Number set and my World Coins of Early America set.
KM#7, Netherlands/Utrecht .986 gold, amazing gold purity on these coins. weight- 3.5g or .1109 oz. 1657 Ducat. Along date run from 1600-1700 from my 2003 17th century Krause World Coins catalog grade/value VG-$100 F-$175 VF-$250 XF-$400 I am sure the values are higher now. What is the grade of your coin ?
A nice example John, and ducats are something we don't see posted all that often anymore, so it makes me quite happy whenever I see one
This is high praise, not because of Doug's forum prominence, but because of his background in this sort of coinage. Congrats on a nice acquisition. I love seeing old ducats, particularly the 16th and 17th century ones. I'd like to have another someday. The oldest I've had was a 1597 in an old small ANACS white holder. (I forget the grade- think it was XF40 or -45). The only one I still have a picture of is this holey 1830 that was once on my trademark "Holey Gold Hat". Really nothing much more than bullion value in this case, I suppose, but still fun.
Yeah, no wonder the hammered gold pieces tended to be somewhat "bendy", with that high gold purity and relatively thin flans. It's not uncommon to see them with old creases. Looks like the Krause value hasn't changed much, as per the NGC data page.
They did, but to a limited degree. Like all gold coins they were just too big of a denomination for common every day use by the average person. But for merchants, particularly in port cities and towns, yeah they were used. I suppose most are unaware of it but the Netherlands gold ducat was most widely circulated and readily accepted coin the world has ever known, much more so in Europe, Asia, and Africa than in the Americas. @AussieCollector , Roald may be able to speak a bit more about their circulation here in Colonial America as he has written and is currently writing articles specifically about the coins used in Colonial America.
Even longer than that! 1586 to the present, I think. Which I believe makes them the longest continually-issued coin design in the world. Aha. Here you go.
Hmmm - that's part 1, that article used to have links to parts 2 and 3 but for some reason it doesn't anymore. I helped Darek write all 3 about three years ago. Anyway, if any have interest they can be found here - https://coinweek.com/recent-article...herlands-gold-ducat-part-2-standard-followed/ and here - https://coinweek.com/world-coins/wo...rt-3-importance-primary-research-numismatics/
The oldest Ducat I have is a 1596 which graded at AU55 and they all are a bit bendy . Now that you mention the purity of the metal it explains a lot
There was one 16th century one available when I bought mine, but I can't remember the date. That's a nice one!
@messydesk I love seeing you add to your prime number set. I like the unusual collecting goal and has me thinking about how I want to focus my own collecting habits. Beautiful coin with amazing history. Great choice
Thanks. I made a nice push into the 16th century with a couple French coins that I bought recently. I'll post those elsewhere as soon as I process the pictures.
As Doug said, they did, but to a limited degree (far less than many other coins), and mainly due to captains engaging in illegal trade. I'd also note that in my research, I am yet to find primary evidence that they did circulate (e.g. a hoard or find). In the evidence reviewed to date, they are most often referred to in "coins of account", which is different to having physical coins.
P.S - I love Ducats, and you have picked up a lovely specimen. Here is my Ducat, struck in Harderwijk (the provincial mint of the Gelderland province) in 1648 - the last year of the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648).