See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration! or register with email

Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!

10 Ducats

Issuer City of Bern
Year 1775
Type Log in to see details
Value 10 Ducats (35)
Currency Log in to see details
Composition Log in to see details
Weight Log in to see details
Diameter Log in to see details
Thickness Log in to see details
Shape Log in to see details
Technique Log in to see details
Orientation Log in to see details
Engraver(s) Log in to see details
In circulation to Log in to see details
Reference(s) Log in to see details
Obverse description Centrally placed ornate baroque shield bearing the arms of Bern — a diagonally striped field charged with a walking bear — surmounted by an elaborate floral and acanthus mantling and topped by a large civic crown. A laurel branch flanks the left side of the shield. The circular legend MONETA REIPUBLICÆ BERNENSIS runs along the periphery in raised Roman capitals, separated by a stop, with a finely milled border surrounding the entire design.
Obverse script Log in to see details
Obverse lettering Log in to see details
Reverse description Log in to see details
Reverse script Latin
Reverse lettering Log in to see details
Edge Log in to see details
Mint Log in to see details
Mintage Log in to see details
Additional information

Bern's multiple-ducat issues of the eighteenth century were not currency in any practical sense — they functioned as diplomatic gifts, presentation pieces, and rewards distributed by the city council to foreign dignitaries and military officers whose goodwill the republic needed to cultivate. A ten-ducat piece represented roughly two months' wages for a skilled tradesman, which tells you everything about who was meant to receive one and who was not.

The HMZ classification as 2-203b places this among the documented varieties distinguished by die alignment and edge treatment, details that matter considerably when attributing a coin whose total surviving population across all varieties remains small.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE