Catalog
30 Ducats - Aureus Magnus Manhattan
| Issuer | Germany, Federal Republic of |
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| Year | 1959 |
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| Engraver(s) | Werner Graul |
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| Obverse description | Central design depicting a rear view of a sailing vessel approaching the island of Manhattan, rendered in detailed relief. On the island, Native American tepees with rising smoke plumes are visible in the middle ground. Thirteen stars arc above the scene, symbolizing the original founding states of the United States of America. In the lower portion of the field, a bald eagle displayed with an olive branch and arrows — the heraldic device of the United States — serves as a secondary emblem. The encircling legend commemorates Henry Hudson's 1609 discovery of Manhattan Island. |
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| Reverse description | A bold six-pointed ornamental cross dominates the field, its arms elaborately decorated with stylized floral and foliate motifs including lilies in the angles between the arms. At the centre of the cross, a cartouche bears the denomination numeral 'XXX' above the inscription 'DUCAT.' in relief. The fineness mark '980' appears in the lower field beneath the cross. The circular legend, divided between the upper and lower arcs of the coin, reads 'AVORUM NON MORITURA VIRTUS' above and 'AUREUS MAGNUS' below, separated by decorative stops. |
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| Additional information |
The "Aureus Magnus Manhattan" designation points to this as a privately commissioned German gold piece of the late 1950s, a category of large-format bullion strikes produced outside the official Bundesbank framework and intended primarily for export sale and collector portfolios in the United States — hence the Manhattan reference. These were not legal tender and carried no state guarantee, occupying a grey zone that West German monetary authorities largely tolerated during the dollar-flush postwar recovery years.
The X# prefix in the standard reference confirms its non-circulation, non-governmental status. At 103.5 grams of high-fineness gold, the piece contains just over three troy ounces of fine metal.