Basel (15)81 60 kreuzer
The first specimen was lot 4016 in SINCONA Auction 98 (Zürich, May 2025), where it sold for 475 CHF (about US$689 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCHWEIZ Basel, Stadt und Kanton, Guldentaler 1581, Basel. Gutes sehr schön. (Switzerland, canton of Basel, guldenthaler of 1581, Basel mint. Good Very Fine.)"
The second specimen was part of lot 3064 in Sincona Auction 105 (Zürich, May 2026), which sold for 500 CHF (about US$762 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCHWEIZ Basel, Stadt und Kanton, Guldentaler 1577 & 1581, Basel. Lot von 2 Exemplaren. Unterschiedlich erhalten. (Switzerland, canton of Basel, guldenthalers of 1577 and 1581, Basel mint. Various conditions, two pieces.)"
The guldenthaler was sixty kreuzer which, in the early part of the sixteenth century, was equal to a thaler. In the later part of the sixteenth century, the thaler rose to 72 kreuzer, making the guldenthaler 5/6 of a thaler. Later, in the seventeenth century, the thaler rose to ninety kreuzer, making the gulden (the "thaler" part of the name was dropped) two-thirds of a thaler. This type was struck 1564-88 along with a thirty kreuzer (half guldenthaler).
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 24 g, silver, 38 mm diameter, the first specimen 24.16 g.
Catalog reference: Winterstein (Taler) 373, HMZ 2-60s.
- Davenport, John S., Silver Gulden, 1559-1763, Frankfurt am Main, Numismatischer Verlag P. N. Schulten, 1982.
- Richter, Jürg, and Ruedi Kunzmann, Neuer HMZ-Katalog, Band 2: Die Münzen der Schweiz und Liechtensteins 15//16. Jahrhundert bis Gegenwart, Regenstauf, Germany: H. Gietl Verlag GmbH, 2006.
- Winterstein, Christian, Die Taler Von Basel, Basel: Schweizerischer Bankverein Basel, 1983.
- [1]Richter, Jürg, SINCONA Auction 98: The Konrad Bürki Collection - Part 3 (Swiss Cantonal Coins), Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2025.
- [2]Richter, Jürg, Michael Hardmeier, Michael Otto, Arne Kirsch, Ruedi Kunsmann and Timur Demirai, SINCONA Auction 105: The Konrad Bürki Collection of Swiss Cantonal Coins - Part 5, Zurich: SINCONA AG, 2026.
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