Breisach 1633 48 kreuzer
This specimen was lot 1383 in Jean Elsen sale 151 (Brussels, June 2022), where it sold for €180 (about US$225 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"ALLEMAGNE, BREISACH, assiégée par le comte palatin et le margrave de Bade, AR 48 Kreuzer, 1633. Klippe. D/ Sous la date, les écus d'Autriche, de Haute-Alsace et de Breisach entre XL-VIII. R/ MO: NO:/ [VAST: ALS/ ET/ BRISIA]CAE/ INDEX. Trace de bélière. presque Très Beau. (Germany, city of Breisach, besieged by the count of the Palatinate and the margrave of Baden, 48 kreuzer of 1633, klippe. Obverse: date above, the arms of Austria, Upper Alsace and Breisach between "XL - VIII"; reverse: five line inscription. Trace of mounting, about Very Fine.)"
This particular siege generated a kreuzer, 24 kreuzer, 48 kreuzer (shown here), thaler and ducat. The French captured and occupied the town several times in the seventeenth century but never succeeded in holding it. It eventually passed to Baden. The second specimen was lot 52054 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2024), where it sold for $1,440. The catalog description[2] noted, "GERMANY. Breisach. 48 Kreuzer Klippe, 1633. Breisach Mint. NGC AU-50. Featuring additional scrollwork in the outer margins on each side, this highly ornate version of the type is rather RARE and enticing. Adding to its intrigue even more is a great deal of lustrous brilliance as well as subtle toning."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 16,20 g.
Catalog reference: KM 3.1, Mailliet 19, 8; Brause-Mansfeld 4, 10. the second psecimen is cf. KM-3 (for overall type); Korchnak-121C; Mailliet-pl. XIX.10.
- 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.
- Korchnak, Lawrence C., Siege Coins of the World, 1453-1902, Lancaster, PA: Classical Numismatic Group, 2021.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 151: Collection Paul Witte, Monnaies de Brabant, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2022.
- [2]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, January 2024 NYINC Auction, featuring the Emilio M Ortiz Collection and a Symphony of Russian Rarities, the Rothschild-Piatigorsky Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
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