Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen 1849 2 gulden Dav-721
This specimen was lot 4220 in Künker sale 406 (Osnabrück, March 2024), where it sold for €1,300 (about US$1,706 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"HOHENZOLLERN-SIGMARINGEN, FÜRSTENTUM, Carl Anton, 1848-1849. Doppelgulden 1849. R Nur 1.210 Exemplare geprägt. Fast vorzüglich/vorzüglich. (principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Charles Anthony, 1848-49, double gulden of 1849. Rare, only 1,210 examples struck, about extremely fine or better.)"
The Hohenzollerns started out in southwest Germany. A junior branch wandered off and became the Margraves of Brandenburg and eventually kings of Prussia and emperors of Germany. The senior branch abdicated in favor of the Berlin branch after the revolutions of 1848. This type was struck 1849 only and is one of the scarcer thalers of nineteenth century Germany.
Wikipedia comments, "Karl Anton, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1811-85) was the last prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen before the territory was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1849. Afterwards he continued to be titular prince of his house and, with the death of the last prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen in 1869, of the entire House of Hohenzollern. He served as Minister President of Prussia from 1858 to 1862. His second son, Karl, became king of Romania. The offer of the throne of Spain to his eldest son, Leopold, was one of the causes of the Franco-Prussian War....Beginning in the spring of 1848, Karl Anton conducted secret negotiations with Frederick William IV on the annexation of the principality to the Kingdom of Prussia. On 7 December 1849, Prince Karl Anton signed the state treaty with Prussia, and the solemn handover of the principality took place on 6 April 1850."
Recorded mintage: 1,213.
Specification: 21.21 g, 0.900 fine silver, this specimen 21.12 g.
Catalog reference: KM 26, AKS 18; Dav-721; Kahnt 277; Thun 209.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns and Talers, Since 1800, 2nd Ed., London: Spink & Son, 1964.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 406: Gold Coins | Coins and Medals from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. Löwenstein-Wertheim | German Coins after 1871, a. o. Patterns from the Coenen Collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
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