Prussia 1542 groschen
This specimen was lot 2961 in Steve Album Auction 51 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2025), where it sold for $180. The catalog description[1] noted, "PRUSSIA: Albrecht I, 1525-1568, AR groschen, Königsberg, 1542, bust right within beaded circle with "IVSTVS EX FIDE VIVIT 154Z" around // Prussian eagle with crowned "S" (for Sigismund I of Poland) on its breast, all within beaded circle with ALBER D G MAR BRAN DVX PRVSS around, PCGS graded MS61." This type was struck 1529-50 and 1558 and has a modest catalog value. According to Wikipedia, "Albert of Prussia (17 May 1490 – 20 March 1568) was the last Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, who after converting to Lutheranism, became the first monarch of the Duchy of Prussia, the secularized state that emerged from the former Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights. Albert was the first European ruler to establish Protestantism as the official state religion of his lands. He proved instrumental in the political spread of Protestantism in its early stage, ruling the Prussian lands for nearly six decades (1510–1568)."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specifications: 2 g, silver, 23 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM MB3, Dost-75, Neum-46, Schult-2811. Kop-3784 (East Prussia).
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Cuhaj, George S., Thomas Michael and Douglas Nicol, Standard Catalog of German Coins, 1501-Present, 3rd Ed. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- [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: