Norway 1546 gulden
This specimen was lot 1174 in Stack's Bowers sale of the L. E. Bruun Collection (Copenhagen, September 2024), where it sold for €168,000 (about US$186,178 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"Presentable and Richly Toned Sølvgylden, NORWAY. Sølvgylden (Gimsøydaler), 1546. Gimsøy Mint. Christian III. NGC AU Details--Cleaned. Mintmaster: Jørgen Kock, the younger. Extremely rare. The importance of the present example of this type, which has always been considered the piece de resistance of any collection of Norwegian coins, can hardly be overestimated. Of the 7-8 privately owned examples this is by far the best, with the exceptional detail in the armor and lion's mane superseding the faint hairlines that exist in the fields from a past cleaning. Apart from the almost unbelievable state of preservation, the artistical quality of the powerful portrait is also completely unsurpassed and is even superior to the contemporary Danish Talers. The unbroken pedigree from the late 18th century until today that includes a long line of prominent Norwegian numismatists is similarly unrivaled.
Although the dies were probably manufactured in Copenhagen, the so-called Gimsøy-Taler was minted in the former nunnery of Gimsøy near Skien in Telemark county. It was presumably struck from local silver mined at Gullnes, and is the only Taler-sized coin minted in Norway before 1628. Ex: Jans Peter Børhildus Grimsgaard Collection (Copenhagen - 12/1889) Lot # 414. Ex: B. Biermann Collection (Oslo - 4/1853) Lot # 2. Ex: August C. Mohr Collection (Copenhagen - 10/1847) Lot # 1018. Ex: Christoph Daniel v. Kreber Collection (Copenhagen - 11/1841) Lot # 1118. Ex: George F. Timm Collection (Copenhagen - 10/1834) Lot # 442. Ex: Peter F. Suhm Collection (Copenhagen - 8/1800) Lot # 1322."
This extremely rare type seems to be missing in Davenport. Even electrotype copies bring hundreds of dollars (ref. Bruun Rasmussen Auction 856, May 2015, lot 5413). Norwegian coinage would not resume until the Oslo mint was opened in 1628.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 29.32 g, 0.906 fine silver, 35 mm diameter, this specimen 29.38 g.
Catalog reference: Hede-1; Sieg-4; NMD-2; Skaare-322; Schou-1; Bruun-9302.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1484-1600, Frankfurt: Numismatischer Verlag, 1977.
- Siegs Møntcatalog 2016: Danmark med Omrader, 48 ed., Frederikssund, Siegs Forlag ApS, 2015.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio, Jeremy Bostwick and Henrik Holt Christensen, The L. E. Bruun Collection - A Corpus of Scandinavian Monetary History Part I, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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