Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel 1681-RB thaler Dav-6379
This specimen was lot 3569 in Künker Auction 426 (Osnabrück, July 2025), where it sold for €525 (about US$744 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRAUNSCHWEIG-WOLFENBÜTTEL, FÜRSTENTUM Rudolf August, 1666-1685. Reichstaler 1681, Zellerfeld. Hübsche Patina, winz. Schrötlingsfehler, vorzüglich. (Germany, duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Rudolf Augustus, 1666-1685, thaler of 1681, Zellerfeld mint. Handsome patina, minor planchet defects, extremely fine.)"
This type was struck 1667-83 and is the most common thaler of Rudolph August. This specimen is a product of the Zellerfeld mint; RB are the initials of mintmaster Rudolf Bornemann. The "wild man" design was popular in Brunswick and Hannover at the time and appeared on many different thalers and minors.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 29 g, 0.875 fine silver, 42 mm diameter, this specimen 28,94 g.
Catalog reference: KM 502, Dav-6379; Welter 1840.
- 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., 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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