Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel 1687-RB 1/2 thaler
The first specimen was lot 5490 in Künker sale 354 (Osnabrück, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €240 (about US$334 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRAUNSCHWEIG UND LÜNEBURG, BRAUNSCHWEIG-WOLFENBÜTTEL, FÜRSTENTUM, Rudolf August und Anton Ulrich, 1685-1704. 1/2 Reichstaler 1687, Zellerfeld. Hübsche Patina, sehr schön. Aus der Sammlung eines Ingenieurs. Erworben 1984 von der Firma Karl-Ludwig Grabow, Berlin. (Germany, duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Rudolf August and Anton Ulrich, 1685-1704, half thaler of 1687, Zellerfeld mint. Handsome patina, very fine.)"
The second specimen was lot 73245 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2023), where it sold for $384. The catalog description[2] noted, "GERMANY. Brunswick-Luneburg: Brunswick. 1/2 Taler, 1687-RB. Zellerfeld Mint. Rudolph August & Anton Ulrich. PCGS EF-45. A minor die break is noted across the coat-of-arms, but this dual wildman minor presents only even handling with a gunmetal gray tone and deeper hues of iridescence sprinkled enchantingly throughout. From the Robert C. Knepper Collection." This type was struck 1687, 1691 and 1697.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, the first specimen 14.35 g.
Catalog reference: KM 575, Welter 2084.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Künker Auktion 354: Munzen und Medaillen aus Mittelalter und Neuzeit u. a. Braunschweig-Luneburg. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2021.
- [2]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, February 2023 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, featuring the David Sterling Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
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