Friedberg 1688-VBW 6 kreuzer
This specimen was lot 2640 in Künker sale 404 (Osnabrück, March 2024), where it sold for €2,200 (about US$2,887 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"MÜNZEN AUSWÄRTIGER PRÄGEHERREN AUS DER MÜNZSTÄTTE MAINZ UND MÜNZEN UND MEDAILLEN MIT BEZUG ZU MAINZ. Reichsburg Friedberg. Philipp Adolph von Rau zu Holzhausen, 1685-1698. 6 Kreuzer 1688, Friedberg, mit Titel Leopolds I. Münzmeister Ulrich Burkard Willerding. Brustbild r. mit umgelegtem Mantel, darunter die Wertzahl VI in Oval//Gekrönter Doppeladler, auf der Brust Reichsapfel, zu den Seiten die Signatur B - W. RR Sehr schön. Exemplar der Auktion Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. 434, Frankfurt/Main 2023, Nr. 2391. (Germany, city of Friedberg, Philipp Adolph von Rau zu Holzhausen, 1685-1698, six krezuer of 1688, Friedberg mint, struck in the name of Leopold I. Obverse: mantled bust right, value below in oval; reverse: crowned double headed eagle divides the engraver's initials. Very rare, very fine.)"
The SCWC shows three listings for this one year type: 1688-RA (Johann Reinhard Arnold), 1688 and 1688-VBW (Ulrich Burkard Willerding, shown here). The SCWC says Philip died in 1692. The free city of Friedberg evolved into a burgraviate and thence passed to Hesse-Darmstadt in 1802. All of its issues are rare. This example realized sixteen times the catalog value.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver or billon, this specimen 3,08 g.
Catalog reference: KM 57, Eichelmann 90; Lejeune 73; Slg. Pick I (Auktion Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. 405) -.
- 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]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 404: Coins and Medals of the City of Mainz - The Prof. Dr. Eckhart Pick Collection, Part II, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
Link to: