Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel 1621 12 kreuzer KM-268

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Stack's Bowers November 2023 Collector's Choice sale, lot 73466
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This specimen was lot 73466 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, November 2023), where it sold for $144. The catalog description[1] noted, "GERMANY. Brunswick-Luneburg: Brunswick. 12 Kreuzer (Kipper), 1621. Friedrich Ulrich. PCGS MS-61. This uncirculated example offers light argent surfaces mellowed with the champagne toning of age. Somewhat unevenly struck with areas of good detail and others weak. However, the legends and date are clear. From the Robert C. Knepper Collection. Includes ticket from Herald Moller." This twelve kreuzer was struck in numerous varieties, including KM 153, KM 154, 155, 158, 266, 267, 268 (shown here), KM 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 291, 292, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 303, 304, 305 and 306, most without photos in the SCWC. 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: silver.

Catalog reference: KM-268; Welter-1080.

Source:

  • 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.
  • [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, November 2023 World Collectors Choice Online Auction - Ancient & World Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.

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