Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel 1621 12 kreuzer KM-154

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Steve Album sale 51, lot 2917

This specimen was lot 2917 in Steve Album Auction 51 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2025), where it sold for $156. The catalog description[1] noted, "BRUNSWICK-WOLFENBÜTTEL: Friedrich Ulrich, 1613-1634, AR 12 kreuzer, 1621, type I, an attractive lustrous example, PCGS graded AU55." This denomination was struck in a large number of varieties during the kipper period (1618-22). The kipperzeit of 1618-23 saw the minor coinage of Germany inflated by about seven or eight to one as the princes of the empire geared up for the Thirty Years War. Some claim this inflationary period wreaked more havoc than the marching, fighting and pillaging of the armies. The duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel seems to have been an enthusiastic participant as we see dozens of varieties of kipper 12 and 24 kreuzer in the listings, as noted above. The duke carefully did not tamper with the major coins, the thaler and the ducat, perhaps to avoid angering the wealthier classes who used those denominations. He also likely issued more in the name of the county of Hohnstein to maintain distance between himself and the proceedings. Once the kipper period was over, there was a concerted effort to recall and melt down the debased issues, accounting for their rarity today.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 2.16 g, silver, 25 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: KM-154.

Sources:

  • 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]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 51, featuring the Howard Daniel III Collection of Asian Coins, the Almer H. Orr III Collection of World Coins and the Joe Sedillot Collection of German Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.

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