1 Ducat - Frederik V

Frederik V commissioned this ducat as part of a deliberate effort to assert Danish commercial authority over the Caribbean trade routes at a moment when the Danish West India and Guinea Company had recently been dissolved and the islands taken under direct Crown control in 1754 — though this piece predates that transition, striking it places it squarely in the final years of company administration. Danish ducats of this Caribbean issue are among the most elusive colonial gold of the eighteenth century; the Crown's Atlantic trade volume never justified large mintages, and attrition through commerce, melting, and shipwreck has been severe.