Nassau 1683-HCM 2 albus KM-3
This specimen was lot 2949 in Steve Album Auction 51 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2025), where it sold for $102. The catalog description[1] noted, "NASSAU: Heinrich Casimir of Dietz, 1664-1696, AR 2 albus, 1683, initials HCM, flan crudely shaped, Fine, ex Joe Sedillot Collection." Wikipedia comments, "Henry Casimir II of Nassau-Dietz (1657–1696) was Stadtholder of Friesland and Groningen from 1664 till 1696." Nassau coinage before the nineteenth century is very scanty. Two albus equaled one sixteenth thaler. This denomination was struck with obverse legend "MON. NOV. PRINCIP: NASSOVIÆ" (shown here) or "MONETA. NO(V)(U)(A). NASSO(V)(U)IÆ." (KM 5). This one, struck 1681-84, is the more common but both are scarce. The counts (later princes) of Nassau-Dietz were a junior branch of the Nassau family but became the main branch on the death of William III, king of Great Britain and stadtholder of the United Provinces, in 1702. The throne of Great Britain passed to Anne, William's sister-in-law, but the Dutch title and the German properties stayed in the family.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specifications: 1.46-1.85 g, silver or billon, 21-22 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-3.
- 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]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 51, featuring the Howard Daniel III Collection of Asian Coins, the Almer H. Orr III Collection of World Coins and the Joe Sedillot Collection of German Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
Links: