Mainz 1614-LS 1/2 thaler KM-16
This specimen was lot 4705 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €7,000 (about US$9,046 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"MAINZ, ERZBISTUM, Johann Schweikhard von Cronberg, 1604-1626. 1/2 Reichstaler 1614, Frankfurt am Main, auf die am 17. Februar erfolgte Einweihung des Aschaffenburger Schlosses. Dreifach behelmtes, vierfeldiges Wappen, dahinter Krummstab und Schwert gekreuzt//Ansicht des Schlosses. RR Sehr schön +. (archbishopric of Mainz, Johann Schweikhard von Cronberg, 1604-26, half thaler of 1614, Frankfurt mint, on the opening of the Aschaffenburg palace on February 17. Obverse: triple helments quartered arms, crossed crozier and sword behind; reverse: view of the palace. Very rare, choice very fine.)"
The archbishops of Mainz were prolific issuers of gold coins in the late middle ages but output dropped in the late fifteenth century, never to recover. This rare type was struck in 1614 to commemorate the opening of a new palace. A klippe version (KM 17) also exists.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 14,22 g.
Catalog reference: KM 16, Slg. Walther 227; Slg. Pick 330.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 386: Brakteaten | Mainz | Bibliothek Prof. Dr. Niklot Klüßendorf | Mittelalter und Neuzeit | Goldprägungen | Deutsche Münzen ab 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2023.
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