Hesse-Cassel 1820 thaler Dav-690
This specimen was lot 2236 in Sincona sale 33 (Zürich, October 2016), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Hessen-Kassel, ab 1803 Kurfürstentum, Wilhelm IX. (I.), 1785-1821 Taler 1820. Kasel. Sehr selten in dieser Erhaltung. Fast FDC. Kleiner Schrötlingsfehler. (Electorate of Hesse-Cassel, William IX (I), 1785-1821, thaler of 1820, Cassel mint. Very rare in this condition, About uncirculated, Minor planchet defect.)"
This type of 1819-20 with its eighteenth century design is scarce. William succeeded to the landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel in 1785 as William IX. In 1803, just prior to the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire, William was promoted to elector. He lived in exile in Denmark 1807-13 while his realm was incorporated into the kingdom of Westphalia. With the help of the Rothschilds, he hid his fortune from Napoleon and multiplied it by canny investments in Great Britain. He fathered four legitimate children and over twenty bastards. Hesse-Kassel would remain an Electorate until it was annexed by Prussia in 1866.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 22.27 g, 0.750 fine silver, lettered edge, this specimen 22.07 g.
Catalog reference: Dav-690; KM-568; Kahnt 250. Thun 182.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns and Talers, Since 1800, 2nd Ed., London: Spink & Son, 1964.
- [1]Numismatic Coins, Medals, & Banknotes: Auction 18, Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2014.
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