Brandenburg 1676-IA 2/3 thaler KM-447
This specimen was lot 73178 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2023), where it sold for $100. The catalog description[1] noted, "GERMANY. Brandenburg. 2/3 Taler, 1676-IA. Friedrich Wilhelm. PCGS Genuine--Cleaned, EF Details. While lightly cleaned, this silver piece displays nice gray surfaces with some deeper toning along the peripheries, creating a pleasing vignette effect. The obverse exhibits slight die shift and a few planchet flaws, but retains good detail including a strong portrait." In the late seventeenth century, the price of silver forced the thaler to rise from 72 kreuzer to 90 kreuzer, making them uneconomic to produce for many German states. Brandenburg, among others, responded by issuing a large variety of gulden (sixty kreuzer) at several mints. The SCWC notes KM 420 (1676-HS), KM 445.1, 445.3, 445.4 (1676-GD Z, Minden mint), KM 443 (1676-CS), KM 445.2 (1676-A VH) and KM 447 (1676-IA, shown here) for 1676.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver.
Catalog reference: Dav-268; KM-447.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Davenport, John S., Silver Gulden, 1559-1763, Frankfurt am Main, Numismatischer Verlag P. N. Schulten, 1982.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, February 2023 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, featuring the David Sterling Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
Link to: