Mainz 1703-VBW kreuzer
This specimen was lot 4769 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €650 (about US$840 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"MAINZ, ERZBISTUM, Lothar Franz von Schönborn, 1695-1729. Goldabschlag von den Stempeln des Kreuzers 1703, VBW, Mainz. GOLD. Kl. Probierspur am Rand, vorzüglich. (archbishopric of Mainz, Lothar Francis of Schönborn, 1695-1729, one kreuzer of 1703, struck in gold. Minor tooling on edge, 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. This type is listed in the SCWC as struck in silver or billon 1703-04, 1716-22. The gold abschlag or off-metal strike is not mentioned. Lothar Francis was also bishop of Bamberg 1693-1729 and issued coins there as well.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver or billon, this specimen 0.56 g, gold.
Catalog reference: KM 231, Slg. Walther 465; Slg. Pick -.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [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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