Basel 1516 goldgulden Fr-17
This specimen was lot 4004 in SINCONA Auction 98 (Zürich, May 2025), where it sold for 10,000 CHF (about US$14,505 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCHWEIZ Basel, Reichsmünzstätte, Maximilian I., als Kaiser 1516. Goldgulden 1516, Basel. Baslerwappen auf Kreuz, die Umschrift teilend, über dem Wappen 15 - 16. Rv. Madonna mit Christuskind in Strahlen. Sehr selten. Gutes sehr schön. (Switzerland, canton of Basel, imperial mint of Maximilian I as emperor, goldgulden of 1516, Basel mint. Obverse: city arms over a cross divides the legend date above; reverse: Madonna and Child in a glory. Very rare, Good Very Fine.)"
Altho the Swiss cantons had won de facto independence from the Empire by the late fifteenth century, the fact was not officially recognized until 1648, when the confederation left the empire by the treaties of Westphalia which ended the Thirty Years War. This rare type was struck 1516 only. The reverse legend, "S' MARIA O-RA PRO NO'" (in full, Sancta Maria Ora Pro Nobis) means, "St. Mary, pray for us".
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.25 g, 0.917 fine gold, this specimen 3.24 g.
Catalog reference: Winterstein (Goldgulden) 226, HMZ 2-50j. Fr-17.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- 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.
- [1]Richter, Jurg, SINCONA Auction 98: The Konrad Bürki Collection - Part 3 (Swiss Cantonal Coins), Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2025.
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