Brandenburg-Ansbach 1783 pfennig
This specimen was lot 2506 in Steve Album Auction 54 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2026), where it sold for $90. The catalog description[1] noted, "BRANDENBURG-ANSBACH: Karl Alexander, 1757-1791, AR pfennig, 1783, a pleasing lustrous mint state example, PCGS graded MS62." The merger of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Bayreuth in 1769 doubled the size of the margrave's realm yet in 1791, he sold out to Prussia and moved to England, perhaps anticipating the coming storm of Napoleonic armies. Altho issued after the merger, this pfennig is still listed for Brandenburg-Ansbach. This type was struck 1783-91 but is not listed in the SCWC, which likely mixed it with KM 290 (value reverse) and KM 327 (date above eagle).
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.24 g, billon.
Catalog reference: Wilmersdörffer-1139, Grüber-4775.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Hanbing Feng, Auction 54, featuring selections from the Kenneth A. Bovenkamp Collection of Ottoman Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2025.
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