Bohemia 1620 48 kreuzer KM-251
This specimen was lot 4667 in Künker sale 335 (Osnabrück, Germany, March 2020), where it sold for €600 (about US$785 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"RÖMISCH-DEUTSCHES REICH. Friedrich von der Pfalz (der Winterkönig), 1619-1621. Kipper-48 Kreuzer 1620, Prag. Münzmeister P. Skréta Sotnovsky. Hübsche Patina, sehr schön. (Holy Roman Empire, Frederick of the Palatinate, the "Winter King", 1619-21, kipper 48 kreuzer of 1620, Prague mint. Handsome patina, very fine.)"
The kipperzeit was a period (1619-24) when many princes of the empire reaped large profits by issuing debased and light weight coinage. Nowhere was this done more enthusiastically than in Bohemia, site of the early fighting of the Thirty Years War. Frederick V, the "Winter King" did it first, until his overthrow in 1620. Emperor Ferdinand II followed his example, tho he should have known better. This 48 kreuzer was minted in 1620 in Prague (shown here), Kuttenberg (KM 252) and Joachimsthal (KM 253). It has the same weight as 36 kreuzer of the prewar standard.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 14.82 g.
Catalog reference: KM 251, Dietiker 592; Halacka 655.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- [1]Künker Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Catalog 335: Bracteates from Upper Swabia and the area of the Lake Constance | Coins and Medals from Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. the Dr. Karl Walter Bach Collection of coins of the Austrian nobility, Special collections of Bavaria, Lubeck, Wurttemberg as well as siege coins from the Eberhard Link Collection. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2020.
Link to:
- 1620-HP 3 kreuzer, Brunn mint, issued by the Bohemian Estates
- 1620 24 kreuzer, kipper issue of Frederick V, Prague mint
- 1620 24 kreuzer, kipper issue of Frederick V, Kuttenberg mint
- 1620 24 kreuzer, kipper issue of Frederick V, Joachimsthal mint
- 1620 24 kreuzer, kipper issue of Frederick V, Kuttenberg mint
- Bohemia 1620 48 kreuzer KM-256 kipper issue of Frederick V, Kuttenberg mint
- Bohemia 1620 48 kreuzer KM-253 kipper issue of Frederick V, Joachimsthal mint
- Coins and currency dated 1620