Ostfriesland (1575-91) thaler Dav-8888
This specimen was lot 4340 in Künker sale 441 (Osnabrück, March 2026), where it sold for €3,000 (about US$4,127 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"OSTFRIESLAND, GRAFSCHAFT, SEIT 1654/1662 FÜRSTENTUM Edzard II. und Johann, 1566-1591. Löwentaler o. J., vermutlich Norden. St. Ludgeri-Taler. Münzmeister Dirk Iden Kruitkremer. Von größter Seltenheit, besonders in dieser Erhaltung. Sehr attraktives Exemplar, winz. Schrötlingsfehler, vorzüglich. (county of East Friesland, Edzard II and John, 1566-91, undated lion dollar, perhaps Norden mint, featuring St. Ludgeri. Extremely rare, especially in this condition. Very attractive example, minor planchet defects, extremely fine.)
Durch Stempeluntersuchungen kann dieser Löwentaler aufgrund der benutzten Buchstabenpunzen eindeutig nach Ostfriesland gelegt werden, zuvor wurde ein niederländischer Ursprung vermutet. Zudem ist der Taler untergewichtig und ein Beleg für die betrügerische Amtsführung des Münzmeisters Dirk Iden Kruitkremer, der - vermutlich in einer Heckenmünzstätte im ostfriesischen Norden - mit Billigung des Grafen Edzard untergewichtige Taler geprägt hat. Vgl.: Hanfried Bendig, Jaarboek voor Munt- en Penningkunde 98, S. 122 ff. Bendig erwähnt, dass zum Zeitpunkt des Verfassens seines Artikels nur zwei Exemplare dieser Art existiert haben. (Based on die analysis—specifically the letter punches employed—this Lion Thaler can be definitively attributed to East Frisia; previously, a Dutch origin had been suspected. Furthermore, the thaler is underweight, serving as evidence of the fraudulent conduct of Mint Master Dirk Iden Kruitkremer, who—presumably at a clandestine mint in northern East Frisia—struck underweight thalers with the sanction of Count Edzard. See Hanfried Bendig, Jaarboek voor Munt- en Penningkunde 98, pp. 122 ff. Bendig notes that, at the time his article was written, only two specimens of this type were known to exist.)"
This windswept, poverty stricken province had little call for thalers. Edzard spent most of his reign in disputes with his brother Johann and the city of Emden (he was Lutheran while the city was Calvinist). Lion dollars were widely imitated by lords all over Europe, whose quasi-counterfeiting was made easier by the extreme crudity of the original. The first genuine leeuwendaalders were struck in 1575 (see Dav-8837) so we deduce that this coin came after that.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 27.63 g, 0.750 fine silver, this specimen 27,35 g.
Catalog reference: Dav-8888 (doubtfully attributed to the barony of Baar), Bendig, Jaarboek voor Munt- en Penningkunde 98, S. 123-124, Typ B; Delm. see 786 (listed there under uncertain attribution).
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1484-1600, Frankfurt: Numismatischer Verlag, 1977.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Frühjahrs-Auktion 441: Orders and Decorations from the Estate of Wilhelm, Duke of Bavaria (1752–1837), among others | Coins and Medals from the Middle Ages and Modern times, particularly Denmark, Habsburg, Norway, and Saxony, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2026.
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