Bern 1679 20 kreuzer
This specimen was lot 4127 in Sincona sale 95 (Zürich, October 2024), where it sold for 500 CHF (about US$693 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCHWEIZ Bern, Stadt und Kanton, 20 Kreuzer 1679, Bern. Ovales Wappen auf Kartusche. Die Felder des Wappens sind leer. Rv. Vier doppelte "B" ins Kreuz gestellt. Von grosser Seltenheit, Schön, Gereinigt. Exemplar der Auktion SINCONA 30. Zürich, Mai 2016, Los 3687. (Switzerland, canton of Bern, twenty kreuzer of 1679, Bern mint. Obverse: oval arms in a cartouche, plain fields; reverse: four double "B's" arranged in a cross. Of high rarity. Fine. Cleaned.)"
This style was struck 1679 only. A variety exists with damascened (decorated) fields surrounding the bear rather than plain fields as shown here. Twenty kreuzer was two ninths of a thaler in the late seventeenth century.
Record mintage: unknown.
Specification: 4.33-4.77 g, silver, 30 mm diameter, this specimen 4.30 g.
Catalog reference: KM 43, Lohner 477 (sehr selten!), D.T. 1140, var, HMZ 2-194f.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- 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, Jürg, SINCONA Auction 95: The Konrad Bürki Collection - Part 2 (Swiss Cantonal Coins), Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2024.
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