NORWAY. 2 Ducats, ND (1669-70?)-JL. Christiania Mint. Frederik III. NGC AU-58.Fr-5b; KM-A119 (mistakenly listed with date 1670); Hede-39 (Denmark); Sieg-73 (139); NMD-5A; Schou-4; Aagaard-7.1; Bruun-6737. Weight: 6.81 gms. Mintmaster: Frederik Grüner. Engraver: Jonas Olufsen Lunder. <p>A breathtakingly noble example of this very serene and unusual issue that easily ranks among the most beautiful Norwegian coins ever minted. Of extraordinary rarity and numismatic importance as this seems to be the only privately owned example bearing Lunders initials.<p><em>As this type doesnt bear St. Olavs axe-bearing lion or for that matter other design elements normally associated with Norway it has until recently been assumed to have been struck in Copenhagen. The initialed signature on the reverse (IL) of this particular variant however clearly points to Jonas Lunder who worked as an engraver at the Mint in Christiania from c. 1664 - 1682. Jonas Lunder was the first of a Norwegian "dynasty" of engravers comprising Anders Jonsen Lunder, the elder, Gabriel Andersen Lunder, and Anders Jonsen Lunder, the younger.</em><p><em>This example was formerly in the collection of merchant and shipowner Peter von Hemmert / van Hemert (1734-1810), who functioned as one of the directors in the Danish Asiatic Company from 1776 to 1783. Partly due to the general economic downturn for merchant ships following the end of the American Revolutionary War and partly due to an embezzlement scandal at the Asiatic Company, von Hemmert was financially brought to his knees. The downfall culminated in 1805 when his company was taken into bankruptcy, and only two years later, he was forced to auction off his coin collection, which was astoundingly rich in large and excessively rare gold coins.</em>From the L. E. Bruun Collection.<p>Ex: Countship of Brahesminde Collection (Private Sale - 1922).<p>Ex: Peter v. Hemmert Collection (Copenhagen - 1807) Lot # 114.<p>
