Mainz 1695 1/8 thaler
This specimen was lot 4768 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €3,200 (about US$4,135 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"MAINZ, ERZBISTUM, Lothar Franz von Schönborn, 1695-1729. 1/8 Reichstaler 1695, Mainz, auf seine Inthronisation. Kurhut über sechsfeldigem Wappen//Kurhut über dem vierfeldigen Wappen seines Vorgängers Anselm Franz. Von großer Seltenheit. Vorzüglich-Stempelglanz. (archbishopric of Mainz, Lothar Francis of Schönborn, 1695-1729, one eighth thaler of 1695, Mainz mint, on his enthronement. Obverse: electoral cap over sixfold arms; reverse: electoral cap over the quartered personal arms of Anselm Francis.)"
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 type is not listed in the SCWC. The issues of this denomination that are catalogued are often death commemoratives (KM 169 of 1679, KM 251 of 1729, KM 260 of 1732, KM 276 of 1743, KM 340 of 1763). Lothar Francis was also bishop of Bamberg 1693-1729 and issued coins there as well.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 3,24 g.
Catalog reference: KM unlisted, Slg. Walther 458; Pr. Alex. 607; Slg. Pick -.
- 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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