Mainz 1679-MF 30 kreuzer

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Künker sale 386, lot 4877

This specimen was lot 4877 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €5,000 (about US$6,461 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,

"MAINZ, ERZBISTUM, Karl Heinrich, Graf von Metternich-Winneburg, 9. Jan. - 26. Sept. 1679. 1/2 Gulden (30 Kreuzer) 1679, Mainz. Von größter Seltenheit. Sehr schön. Aus der Sammlung Heinz Beaury. Erworben im Juni 1982. (archbishopric of Mainz, Charles Henry, count of Metternich-Winneburg, half gulden or thirty kreuzer of 1679, Mainz mint. Extremely rare, very fine.)

Die an der Mosel zwischen Zell und Cochem gelegenen Herrschaften Beilstein und Winneburg, die nach dem Aussterben der Winneburger im Jahr 1637 an das Erzbistum Trier gefallen waren, wurden 1652 an die Freiherren von Metternich übertragen. Karl Heinrich von Metternich-Winneburg erreichte 1679 die Erhebung in den Reichsgrafenstand mit Sitz und Stimme im westfälischen Reichsgrafenkollegium. Möglich war dies, weil er am 9. Januar 1679 den Mainzer Erzstuhl bestiegen hatte und damit Erzkanzler des Reiches geworden war. Am 30. Januar 1679 wurde er außerdem Bischof von Worms. Nach nur acht Monaten verstarb der Kurfürst am 26. September 1679. Letzter Inhaber der bereits 1801 mediatisierten Herrschaft Metternich-Winneburg war der österreichische Staatskanzler Fürst Clemens von Metternich. (The lordships of Beilstein and Winneburg on the Moselle between Zell and Cochem, which fell to the Archbishopric of Trier after the Winneburg family died out in 1637, were transferred to the Barons of Metternich in 1652. In 1679, Karl Heinrich von Metternich-Winneburg was elevated to the rank of Imperial Count with a seat and vote in the Westphalian Imperial Count College. This was possible because he had become archbishop of Mainz on January 9, 1679 and thus became Archchancellor of the Empire. On January 30, 1679 he also became Bishop of Worms. The elector died after just eight months on September 26, 1679. The last owner of the Metternich-Winneburg dominion, which was mediatized in 1801, was the Austrian state chancellor, Prince Clemens von Metternich.)"

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. After the Thirty Years War, the thaler rose from 72 to ninety kreuzers. Many princes responded in the 1670's by issuing the gulden at its old value of sixty kreuzer or two-thirds of a thaler. The archbishops also issued half gulden in many styles (KM 120, 134, 135, 148, 162, 178) of which this issue of 1679 is the fifth.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: silver, this specimen 9.51 g.

Catalog reference: KM 162, Slg. Walther 387; Slg. Pick -.

Source:

  • 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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