Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel 1657-HS thaler Dav-6341
This specimen was lot 3554 in Künker Auction 426 (Osnabrück, July 2025), where it sold for €280 (about US$397 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRAUNSCHWEIG-WOLFENBÜTTEL, FÜRSTENTUM August der Jüngere, 1635-1666. Reichstaler 1657, Zellerfeld. Hausknechtstaler. Hübsche Patina, sehr schön. (Germany, duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Augustus the Younger, 1635-66, "houseboy" thaler of 1657, Zellerfeld mint. Handsome patina, very fine.)
Der Begriff "Hausknechtstaler" ist eine Spottbezeichnung für die Prägungen, auf denen der wilde Mann die Tanne quer vor sich hält, wie einen Besen, mit dem er fegen möchte. (The "houseboy" thaler is so nicknamed because the wild man holds the fir tree horizontally as if preparing to sweep the forest.)"
This type was struck 1653-65 and is among the more common thalers of the period.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 29 g, 0.875 fine silver, 42 mm diameter, this specimen 28,96 g.
Catalog reference: KM 442.1, Dav-6341; Welter 822.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Davenport, John S., German Secular Talers, 1600-1700, Frankfurt: Numismatischer Verlag, 1976.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, eLive Premium Auction 426: European and German Coins and Medals from the 16th to the 20th century, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2025.
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