Mainz 1685-VBW thaler Dav-5569
This specimen was lot 4754 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €2,400 (about US$3,101 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"MAINZ, ERZBISTUM, Anselm Franz von Ingelheim, 1679-1695. Reichstaler 1685, VBW, Mainz. RR Fast vorzüglich. (archbishopric of Mainz, Anselm Francis of Ingelheim, 1679-95, thaler of 1685, Mainz mint. Very rare, about extremely 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. The archbishops issued a variety of thalers in the seventeenth century but none are common. This is one of six for Anselm Francis and was previously struck in 1680 and 1682. There is also a double thaler (Dav-5568).
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 28.99 g.
Catalog reference: KM 181 (unlisted date), Dav-5569; Slg. Walther 409; Slg. Pick 538.
- 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.
- Davenport, John S., German Church and City Talers, 1600-1700, Galesburg, IL, 1967.
- [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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