Bern 1790 1/2 kreuzer
This specimen was lot 5120 in Sincona Auction 102 (Zürich, October 2025), where it sold for 190 CHF (about US$286 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCHWEIZ Bern, Stadt und Kanton, Vierer 1790, Bern. Selten. Vorzüglich-FDC. (Switzerland, city and canton of Bern, half kreuzer or vierer of 1790, Bern mint. Rare, About Uncirculated.)"
Bern, one of the cantons of Switzerland, struck coins fairly steadily throughout the eighteenth century altho thalers are scarce. The coinage was interrupted by Napoleonic occupation but resumed in 1817. In 1839, the coinage was decimalized to 100 centimes = one franc and one, two, four, ten and twenty-five centimes were issued, all in billon. This half kreuzer was struck intermittently 1762-97 and is common. Some dates were also struck in gold for presentation.
Recorded mintage: unknown but a better date.
Specification: 0.6 g, billon, 15.3 mm diameter, this specimen 0.59 g.
Catalog reference: KM 122, D.T. 533r, HMZ 2-226bb.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- 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 102: The Konrad Bürki Collection - Part 4 (Swiss Cantonal Coins), Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2025.
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