Künker's Berlin Auction Sales to Feature 730 Lots Estimated at 6M Euros

On 2 February 2023, Künker will hold its traditional Berlin auction sale during the World Money Fair. One cannot help but look forward to this sale as the wealth of rarities and unique pieces will most likely attract coin collectors as well as dealers from all over the world to gather at the auction venue. The 730 lots – divided into two auction catalogs – have a total estimate of 6 million euros. The total result might be even higher – especially regarding the 100 rarities from the Salton Collection, which are on offer in auction catalog 379. After all, the lots are estimated rather modestly.

A Few of the Featured Lots from the Berlin Kuenker Sale on February 2, 2023

If you’re thinking now that all of this is way off your price range, you’re wrong. In these high-class auction sales, several special collections and runs are on offer. At this point, we will only mention the Widegren Collection with Swedish coins and the second part of the Liska Collection. As is typical for collections, they contain both extremely rare and common pieces. Therefore, estimates start at 100 euros. In general, if you love gold coins you should take a close look at auction 380. You will find a rich selection.

And since after the auction is before the auction, we already want to draw your attention to the next sale. The Dr. Eberhard Werther Collection will probably be sold on 7 February 2023 as an eLive Premium Auction.

Catalog 379: The Salton Collection – 100 Rarities of European Minted History

By now, probably anyone who’s interested in coins is familiar with the name Salton. That’s how young Max Schlessinger called himself after he had escaped the terror of the Holocaust and found a new home in the United States of America. It is an incredible sign of reconciliation that his widow Lottie Salton, also a victim of the persecution of Jews, decided to have their collection sold in Germany and the USA. Künker is highly honored by her trust. It was a matter close to the heart of the management to thoroughly investigate the fate of the Hamburger-Schlessinger coin dealer dynasty, whose last coin dealing descendant was Max Schlessinger aka Mark Salton, and to publish the story in a comprehensive brochure. Subject to availability, this publication can be obtained free of charge from Künker’s customer service.

For their Berlin Auction, Künker selected exactly 100 rarities from the extensive collection. These are exclusively extremely rare pieces, characterized by both excellent quality and provenance. After all, most of the coins were part of the Salton Collection for more than half a century. Let’s not talk too much and let the pictures of the coins speak for themselves.

No. 12: Brunswick-Calenberg-Hanover. John Frederick, 1665-1679. Löser of 6 reichstalers 1679, Zellerfeld. Minted and distributed on the occasion of John Frederick’s funeral. From the Salton and Meyerhof Collections, Schulman auction 171 (1930), No. 156. Extremely rare. About extremely fine. Estimate: 40,000 euros

No. 24: Leiningen-Westerburg. Ludwig, 1597-1622. Broad double reichstaler 1610, Grünstadt. Extremely rare, probably unique. From the Salton Collection and Schlessinger auction 10 (1933), No. 967. Very fine to extremely fine. Estimate: 50,000 euros

No. 36: Saxony. Friedrich III the Wise, 1486-1525. Guldengroschen n.d. (1513), Nuremberg, commemorating him becoming Governor General. From the Salton Collection. Very rare. About extremely fine. Estimate: 15,000 euros

No. 56: Wallenstein, Albrecht, 1623-1634, Duke of Friedland. Double reichstaler 1627, Jitschin. From the Salton Collection. Extremely rare. Very fine +. Estimate: 30,000 euros

No. 64: HRE. Ferdinand I, 1522-1558-1564. Representative taler 1528, Hall. Dies by Ulrich Ursentaler. From the Salton Collection. Extremely rare. About extremely fine. Estimate: 25,000 euros

No. 67: HRE. Matthias, 1608-1612-1619. Quadruple reichstaler 1614, Vienna. From the Salton Collection. Extremely rare. Very fine. Estimate: 20,000 euros

No. 81: Denmark. Christian VII, 1766-1808. Piastre 1771 (minted in 1774), Copenhagen. Minted by the Danish Asia Company. So-called Greenland Pillar Dollar. From the Salton and Ragoczy Collections (1961), No. 670. Very rare. Very fine +. Estimate: 20,000 euros

No. 100: Bohemia and Moravia. Wenceslaus IV, 1378-1419. Prague groschen n.d., Prague. Broad off-metal strike of 15 Prague groschen. From the Salton and Donebauer Collections, Hess auction (1889), No. 850 and the Wunderly von Muralt Collection, L+L Hamburger auction (1899), No. 61. Extremely rare. Very fine to extremely fine. Estimate: 10,000 euros

We want to emphasize that it’s also possible to acquire rarities from this collection that are not as expensive. We picked out some particularly beautiful pieces with estimates of less than 3,000 euros.

No. 13: Brunswick-Calenberg-Hanover. Ernest Augustus, 1679-1698. Reichstaler 1682, Clausthal. From the Salton Collection. Very rare. Extremely fine. Estimate: 2,000 euros

No. 19: Henneberg. Reichstaler 1698, yield from the mines of Ilmenau. From the Salton Collection. Rare. Showpiece. About FDC. Estimate: 2,500 euros

No. 33: Osnabrück / Bishopric. Sede vacante 1698. Reichstaler 1698, Hanover. From the Salton Collection. Very rare. Extremely fine to FDC. Estimate: 1,000 euros

No. 82: Strassbourg / City (France). Reichstaler 1679, commemorating the Treaties of Nijmegen. From the Salton Collection. Very rare. Very fine to extremely fine. Estimate: 1,500 euros

Catalog 380: Coins and Medals from Medieval and Modern Times, Including Issues of the Kingdom of Sweden – the Stefan Widegren Collection – as well as Gold Coins from Czechoslovakia from the Dr. Pavel Liska Collection

One doesn’t even know where to begin when highlighting the most remarkable pieces of auction 380. It seems like every other piece would be suitable to be depicted in this preview.

Geographically speaking, the selection ranges from Albania to Zurich, in terms of time from the Stauffer Emperor Frederick I to the 1990s. The lightest coin has a weight of 0.87 g, the heaviest of 14.60 kilos. In other words: it really is an auction of superlatives with rarities of a kind that only enter the market on rare occasions.

An outstanding highlight is the Stefan Widegren Collection of Swedish coins. Among other items, it contains the first Swedish gold coin, a 1568 gold gulden minted by Eric XIV in Stockholm. Another highlight is the double rosenoble of half a portugaleser issued on behalf of John III around 1585/6. What’s indisputably the most spectacular piece of this collection is the copper plate of 8 talers, created in 1659 in Avesta. After all, this piece is the second largest historical coin in the world. The Widegren Collection is complemented by further spectacular coins from Sweden from other estates.

No. 340: Sweden. Eric XIV, 1560-1568. Gold gulden 1568, Stockholm. From the Widegren Collection. Extremely rare. Small hole. Very fine to extremely fine. Estimate: 50,000 euros

No. 341: Sweden. John III 1568-1592. 2 rosenoble (1/2 potugaleser) n.d. (1585/6), Stockholm. From the Widegren Collection. Extremely rare. Minor traces of mounting, slightly bent, very fine. Estimate: 25,000 euros

No. 343: Sweden. Charles X Gustav, 1654-1660. Copper plate of 8 daler silvermynt 1659, Avesta. From the Widegren Collection. Extremely rare. The world’s second largest coin. Extremely fine. Estimate: 150,000 euros

No. 439: Sweden. Sigismund, 1592-1599. Daler 1594, Stockholm. Very rare. Very fine. Estimate: 25,000 euros

Collectors of Czechoslovak coins can look forward to another part of the Liska Collection with numerous spectacularly rare pieces of exquisite quality. At this point, we will limit our preview to No. 477, of which only 56 specimens were minted. NGC graded the piece MS68.

No. 477: Czechoslovakia. 10 ducats 1951, Kremnica. From the Liska Collection. Only 56 specimens minted. NGC MS68. About FDC. Estimate: 25,000 euros

No. 479: Czechoslovakia. 2 ducats 1951, Kremnica. From the Liska Collection. Only 200 specimens minted. NGC MS67. Extremely fine to FDC. Estimate: 25,000 euros

Magnificent individual pieces and attractive runs – this is what auction 380 is characterized by. The wealth of rarities cannot be done justice in this preview in the slightest, therefore we limit ourselves to lots with estimates in the six-digit range and the only order of this auction sale.

No. 288: Great Britain. Victoria, 1837-1901. 5 Pounds 1839, London. “Una and the Lion”. NGC PF 63 CAMEO (Top Pop). Very rare. Proof. Estimate: 100,000 euros

No. 485: Hungary / Transylvania. Georg Rakoczi II, 1648-1660. 10 ducats 1657, Weißenburg. Extremely rare. NGC AU58. About extremely fine / Extremely fine. Estimate: 150,000 euros

No. 630: Austria / Austrian princes / Schlick. Stephan, Burian, Heinrich, Hieronymus and Lorenz, 1505-1532. Broad triple taler 1520, Joachimsthal. Extremely rare. Very fine. Estimate: 100,000 euros

No. 642: Bamberg. Lothar Franz von Schönborn, 1693-1729. 10 ducats 1697, Nuremberg. NGC MS61+. Extremely rare. Extremely fine +. Estimate: 100,000 euros

No. 663: Brandenburg-Prussia. Frederick William, 1640-1688. 5 ducats 1679, Berlin. Extremely rare. NGC AU58. Extremely rare. About extremely fine / Extremely fine. Estimate: 100,000 euros

No. 675: Brandenburg-Prussia. William I, 1861-1888. Gold medal of 120 ducats 1871, by E. Weigand and F. W. Kullrich. General’s medal commemorating the victory over France. Only 25 gold specimens minted. Extremely fine. Estimate: 100,000 euros

No. 732: Eichstätt / Bishopric. Johann Conrad von Gemmingen, 1595-1612. 8 ducats 1596, Nuremberg. Extremely rare. Extremely fine. Estimate: 150,000 euros

No. 835: Saxony. Christian II, Johan Georg I and Augustus, 1591-1611. 10 ducats 1611, Dresden. Commemorating the death of Christian II. From MMAG auction 7 (1948), No. 130. Extremely rare. NGC MS65. About FDC. Estimate: 250,000 euros

No. 843: Saxony. Frederick Augustus I, 1694-1733. 8 ducats 1725, Dresden. From the Dr. Friedrich Collection, Hess auction (1914), No. 1127. NGC MS 62+. Extremely rare. Extremely fine to FDC. Estimate: 100,000 euros

No. 864: Schwarzenberg. Adam Franz, 1703-1732. 10 ducats 1721, Vienna. Extremely rare. Extremely fine. Estimate: 125,000 euros

No. 512. Oman. Quabus bin Sa'id, 1970-2020. 1982 Order of N'Oman, 1st class set, made by the Spink & Son Ltd. company in London. Extremely rare set of orders. Quality: I. Estimate: 12,500 euros

As we don’t want to create the false illusion that this auction wouldn’t be of interest to “normal” collectors, we follow these items by some attractive coins with estimates of less than 500 euros.

No. 407: Sweden. Oscar II, 1872-1907. 5 krona 1881, Stockholm. About FDC. Estimate: 100 euros

No. 539: USA. 5 dollars 1903 San Francisco. NGC MS64. Extremely fine +. Estimate: 400 euros

No. 727: Bremen. 1/2 reichstaler 1748. Extremely fine. Estimate: 300 euros

No. 797: Nuremberg. 1/4 ducat 1700 (later issue). Extremely fine to FDC. Estimate: 200 euros

No. 801: Nuremberg. Gold medal of one ducat n.d. (18th century). NGC MS61. Extremely fine. Estimate: 250

To order a catalog contact Künker, Nobbenburger Straße 4a, 49076 Osnabrück; phone: +49 541 / 962020; fax: +49 541 / 9620222; or via e-mail: service@kuenker.de. You can access the auction catalogs online at www.kuenker.de. If you want to submit your bid from your computer at home, please remember to register for this service in good time.