Bern 1700 16 pfennig
This specimen was lot 4134 in Sincona sale 77 (Zürich, May 2022), where it sold for 2,000 CHF (about US$2,428 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SWITZERLAND | Bern | Stadt und Kanton. Sechzehnerpfennig 1700, Bern. Nach links schreitender Bär in Sechspass. Rv. Schwert- und Zepterarm unter strahlender Sonne. Ohne Randschrift. Mit Gegenstempel (?). Sehr selten in dieser Erhaltung. Fast FDC. Feine Patina. (Switzerland, canton of Bern, sixteen pfennig of 1700, Bern mint. Obverse: a bear marches left in a hexalobe; reverse: two arms, with a sword and scepter, under a shining sun. No edge lettering. Very rare in this condition, About uncirculated, Nicely toned.)"
Every year at Easter, the top authorities in Bern were reappointed. The electoral body, which was also a constitutional body, was made up of the small council (senatus) and a sixteen-member committee of the large council. On March 30, 1666, the council decided to give up the electoral college's usual meal on the evening before Good Friday. Instead, these new sixteen pfennigs were handed out for the first time on Holy Thursday (before Good Friday) in 1667. These pieces are a cross between Maundy money and jetons and are between a gulden and a thaler in weight. They were last issued about 1818 and are not listed in the SCWC.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 24.50 g.
Catalog reference: KM unlisted, Schweizer Medaillen 612.
- 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 77, World Coins and Medals, Bullion Auction, Coins and Medals of Switzerland, Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2022..
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