At first glance, an unassuming small coin: a groschen of Rudolf II from the Kutná Hora mint, struck under mintmaster Jiří Šatný. On closer inspection, however, collectors noticed the detail that makes it a rarity: the date 1859. Rudolf II died in 1612.
The erroneous date turned an ordinary coin into a unique piece not listed in any catalogue. It comes from an old collection and is part of the František Trefanec Collection, assembled with remarkable diligence and kept locked in its coin cabinet for decades after his death.
Collectors recognised its exceptional nature. From a starting price of €200, a tense bidding battle took it to a hammer price of €8,000, forty times the start. It became one of the highest hammer prices of the eLive auction.
Other lots also achieved strong results. A 1627 thaler of Ferdinand II from Joachimsthal, for example, rose from €200 to a hammer price of €7,500. Of the 1,221 lots offered over the first two days, 1,206 found new owners.
What’s still to come
eLive Auction #40 continues every evening from 6 pm until Friday 30 October:
- Wednesday 28 Oct – Austrian Empire: coins of Franz Joseph I and Ferdinand V, ecclesiastical issues and Bohemian medals. Among them a rare 1860 Vereinskrone with a mintage of only 557 pieces, and a gold 4 ducats of 1628 struck for the consecration of Salzburg Cathedral.
- Thursday 29 Oct – Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic and German states: including the legendary 1993 10 Kč with the “small Kč”, pattern strikes that accidentally entered circulation.
- Friday 30 Oct – world coins, medals and banknotes: for example a gold sovereign (30 shillings) of 1553, medals by Karl Goetz, and rare banknotes including the 1993 200 Kč error print with the “REPUBLIQUE DU ZAIRE” strip.
Further lots from the František Trefanec Collection will be offered right up to the end of the auction. Anyone who wins at least one of them will be entered into a prize draw for the First Republic coin cabinet in which the collection was kept for decades. 👉 Giveaway rules
