Frederik III Rarities Among Nearly 1,000 L. E. Bruun Collection Coins in February Stack’s Bowers Galleries Auction

Nearly a thousand Scandinavian coins certified by Numismatic Guaranty Company® (NGC®) and pedigreed to the L. E. Bruun Collection are being offered by Stack's Bowers Galleries in an upcoming auction. Bidding is already underway for the February 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction: Selections from the L. E. Bruun Collection, which includes Session 1: Coins of Denmark and Session 2 - Coins of Norway, Sweden and Germany.

One of the top coins in the auction is a Denmark 1659 Krone graded NGC AU 58 (Session 1, lot 10227), which has already seen bidding easily exceed its estimate of €1,000 to €1,500 (about $1,000 to $1,600). The coin was issued halfway through the 21-year reign of Danish King Frederik III during the Dano-Swedish War of 1658-1660. In that conflict, Swedish forces were ultimately unsuccessful in a prolonged siege of Copenhagen, the Danish capital, which survived a furious assault in February 1659. The coin depicts a sword in the hand of God cutting off the hand of the enemy Swedish king as it reaches for the Danish crown.

Another coin of Frederik III is also a top highlight in the sale: a Norway 1651 8 Skilling - Bottle graded NGC AU 55. It was issued near the start of his reign, during which he transformed the personal union of Denmark and Norway that had begun more than a century earlier into an integrated state.

In addition to the online auction in February, Stack's Bowers Galleries is presenting Part II of the L. E. Bruun Collection at an auction in Switzerland in March. Eleven coins are expected to realize six figures in that sale, including a Denmark 1788 20 Ducats graded NGC AU Details that has an estimate of €250,000 to €350,000 (about $255,000 to $357,000).

The first auction of the L. E. Bruun Collection was held in September 2024 and saw more than 30 coins realize prices of more than $100,000. This included a Denmark 1496 Noble graded NGC AU 55 that realized €1.2 million (about $1.33 million), a record for any coin from Scandinavia. NGC has certified thousands of coins from this spectacular collection and encapsulated them with a special label highlighting their connection to L. E. Bruun, a Danish butter and real estate entrepreneur. Bruun set aside his massive coin collection for the century after his death in 1923 to serve as a replacement for the Danish royal collection, in case it was lost or destroyed.

Other highlights in the February online auction include:

• a Denmark 1624 2 Krone graded NGC XF Details (Session 1, lot 10143), with an estimate of €2,500 to €3,000 (about $2,600 to $3,100)
• a Denmark 1714 Ducat graded NGC AU 58 (Session 1, lot 10329), with an estimate of €2,000 to €3,000 (about $2,100 to $3,100)
• a Norway 1676 PG Krone graded NGC AU Details (Session 2, lot 11090), with an estimate of €2,000 to €3,000 (about $2,100 to $3,100)
• a Norway 1791 HIAB 8 Skilling graded NGC AU 53 (Session 2, lot 11170), with an estimate of €2,000 to €3,000 (about $2,100 to $3,100)
• a Sweden 1715 LC Ducat graded NGC AU Details (Session 2, lot 11368), with an estimate of €2,000 to €3,000 (about $2,100 to $3,100)
• a Norway 1690 HCM Krone graded NGC XF 40 (Session 2, lot 11128), with an estimate of €1,800 to €2,200 (about $1,900 to $2,100)
• a Denmark 1544 8 Skilling graded NGC XF Details (Session 1, lot 10055), with an estimate of €1,800 to €2,000 (about $1,900 to $2,100)
• a Norway 1682 PG 8 Skilling graded NGC AU 50 (Session 2, lot 11104), with an estimate of €1,800 to €2,000 (about $1,900 to $2,100)
• a Denmark 1768 HSK Speciedaler graded NGC AU 58 (Session 2, lot 11162), with an estimate of €1,800 to €2,000 (about $1,900 to $2,100)
• a Denmark 1788 HIAB 24 Skilling graded NGC UNC Details (Session 2, lot 11168), with an estimate of €1,800 to €2,000 (about $1,900 to $2,100)
• a Denmark 1535 Mark graded NGC AU 50 (Session 1, lot 10047), with an estimate of €1,600 to €2,000 (about $1,700 to $2,100)

Estimates are provided by the auction house. The $ symbol represents US Dollars.