Hanau-Munzenberg 1763-IIE 1/2 thaler
This specimen was lot 3930 in Künker sale 335 (Osnabrück, Germany, March 2020), where it sold for €1,200 (about US$1,570 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"HANAU, HANAU-MÜNZENBERG, GRAFSCHAFT. Wilhelm IX. (I.) von Hessen-Kassel, 1760-1785, bis 1764 unter Vormundschaft seiner Mutter Maria. 1/2 Konv.-Taler 1763, Hanau. Feine Patina, winz. Prägeschwäche, vorzüglich. (Germany, county of Hanau-Munzenberg, William IX of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1760-85, under the regency of his mother Maria. Half convention thaler of 1763, Hanau mint. Fine patina, slightly weakly struck, extremely fine.)"
While this half thaler is dated 1763, it accompanied a thaler (Dav-2266) and a ducat (Fr-1286) dated 1764. The native dynasty fell extinct in 1736 and the state was ruled by the landgraves of Hesse-Cassel until 1803. The other part, Hanau-Lichtenberg, passed to Hesse-Darmstadt.
Recorded mintage: unknown but rare.
Specification: 14.03 g, 0.833 fine silver, this specimen 13.98 g.
Catalog reference: KM 91, Schütz 2038.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Künker Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Catalog 335: Bracteates from Upper Swabia and the area of the Lake Constance | Coins and Medals from Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. the Dr. Karl Walter Bach Collection of coins of the Austrian nobility, Special collections of Bavaria, Lubeck, Wurttemberg as well as siege coins from the Eberhard Link Collection. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2020.
Link to: