Austria 1516 batzen
This specimen was lot 4652 in Künker sale 441 (Osnabrück, March 2026), where it sold for €320 (about US$440 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"RÖMISCH-DEUTSCHES REICH, Maximilian I., 1490-1519. Batzen 1516, St. Veit. Mit LEOPOL - D9 in der Vorderseitenumschrift und KARIИTHIE in der Rückseitenumschrift. Feine Patina, leichte Prägeschwäche, fast vorzüglich. Aus der Sammlung Kommerzialrat Dr. Herbert Wenzel, Wien. (Holy Roman Empire, Maximilian I, 1490-1519, batzen of 1516, St. Veit mint, with "LEOPOL - D9" in the obverse legend and "KARIИTHIE" in the reverse legend. Fine patina, slightly weakly struck, about extremely fine.)"
A batzen was four kreuzer. A denomination long popular in Switzerland, it was overshadowed in Germany by the groschen of three kreuzer. St Leopold appears on the reverse. Numista notes this coin with upright shields (shown here) or tilted shields. It was struck 1516-18.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.3-3.4 g, silver, 25-26 mm diameter, this specimen 3,28 g.
Catalog reference: Egg S. 194, 14 Anm. Variante.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Frühjahrs-Auktion 441: Orders and Decorations from the Estate of Wilhelm, Duke of Bavaria (1752–1837), among others | Coins and Medals from the Middle Ages and Modern times, particularly Denmark, Habsburg, Norway, and Saxony, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2026.
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