Hungary 1538-KB denar
This specimen was lot 75322 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction (Costa Mesa, CA, October 2024), where it sold for $85. The catalog description[1] noted, "HUNGARY. Denar, 1538-KB. Kremnica Mint. Ferdinand I. NGC EF-45. Nicely centered with bright surfaces." This denomination was struck 1537-38 for John Zápolya and 1528-59 for Ferdinand (shown here). Mints included Körmöcbánya (Kremnica, shown here), Nagyszeben (Hermannstadt), Kosztajnica (Gvazdansko), Pozsony (Pressburg, Bratislava) and Nagybánya. Ludwig II, the last king of Hungary, was killed at the battle of Mohacs in 1526, leaving his beleaguered domain to be partitioned between the Turks and the Hapsburgs. Ferdinand I was emperor at the time and claimed all of Hungary but had to content himself with a small slice in the west. The Hapsburgs would not conquer the rest of Hungary and Transylvania until the end of the seventeenth century.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.58 g, 0.500 fine silver, 14 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM MB115, Huszar-935.
- Nicol, N. Douglas, Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of German Coins, 1501-Present, 3rd ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, October 2024 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, featuring the S.P. Rutherford Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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