Austria 1548-Linz 3 kreuzer
This specimen was lot 4664 in Künker sale 441 (Osnabrück, March 2026), where it sold for €85 (about US$117 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"RÖMISCH-DEUTSCHES REICH, Ferdinand I., 1522-1558-1564. Groschen (3 Kreuzer) 1548, Linz. Fast vorzüglich. Aus der Sammlung Kommerzialrat Dr. Herbert Wenzel, Wien. Erworben 1961 von der Tiroler Münzhandlung Sigmund Werkner, Innsbruck. (Holy Roman Empire, Ferdinand I, 1522-1558-1564, groschen of 1548, Linz mint.)"
Numista shows groschen (three kreuzer) for Ferdinand from Linz (1534-37, 1541, 1547-54) and Vienna (1530, 1534, 1545-54). They very similar but the Vienna issue lacks the escutcheon at the bottom of the reverse. Other mints likely exist. One thaler was twenty groschen, soon to rise to 24.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 2.2-2.6 g, 0.500 fine silver, 21-23 mm diameter, this specimen 2,15 g.
Catalog reference: Markl 518.
- 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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