Livonia (15)60 ferding
This specimen was lot 1119 in Stephen Album sale 50 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2024), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted, "LIVONIA: Gothard Kettler, 1559-1562, AR ferding, 1560, a bold strike that is nicely centered in high grade from the city of Reval (now Tallinn), XF-AU, ex Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection." This specimen was offered again as lot 2692 in Steve Album Auction 52 (Santa Rosa, CA, May 2025), where it sold for $144. The SCWC calls the ferding equal to 4 schilling or one quarter of a mark and lists numerous types (KM MB43, MB50, MB51, MB 58, MB70 and MB71). Tallinn is the capital of modern Estonia.
One mark was worth four ferdings or 36 schillings. The first ferdings were a joint issue of the Archbishop of Riga Jasper Linde (1509–1524) and Master of the Livonian Order Wolter von Plettenberg (1494–1535). Ferdings were struck from silver of .930 fineness in Riga, Tallinn and Tartu. In 1525, the ferding was equated to 10 schillings and in 1551–1557, to 14 schillings. In 1557, ferdings were being struck from silver of .578 fineness.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 2.46 g, 0.578 fine silver, 24.5 mm diameter, this specimen 4.31 g.
Catalog reference: KM MB70, Haljak-201.
- Nicol, N. Douglas, Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of German Coins, 1501-Present, 3rd ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 50, featuring selections from the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection, the Hakim Hamidi Collection, the Almer H. Orr III Collection and the Solar Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
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