Prussia 1766-A thaler Dav-2586
This specimen was lot 3741 in Künker sale 335 (Osnabrück, Germany, March 2020), where it sold for €800 (about US$1,047 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRANDENBURG-PREUSSEN, PREUSSEN, KÖNIGREICH, Friedrich II. der Große, 1740-1786. Reichstaler preuß. 1766, A, Berlin. Feine Patina, winz. Schrötlingsfehler, vorzüglich +. (Germany, kingdom of Prussia, Frederick II, 1740-86, thaler of 1766, Berlin mint. Fine patina, some hairlines, extremely fine or better.)"
This type was struck at Berlin (shown here), Breslau and Königsberg 1764-74. These coins saw hard use and are frequently found heavily worn. As they were only 0.750 fine, they were spent and the issues of other principalities hoarded. Frederick the Great emerged victorious from the Seven Years War but it was a very near thing, with only the death of the empress Elizabeth in 1761 saving Prussia from utter destruction. Having established Prussia as a major power, he eschewed further wars of aggression.
Recorded mintage: unknown but common.
Specification: 22.27 g, 0.750 fine silver, this specimen 22.18 g.
Catalog reference: KM 306.2, Dav-2586; Olding 69 d; Kluge 120.3.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- Davenport, John S., German Talers, 1700-1800, 2nd Ed., London: Spink & Son, 1965.
- [1]Künker Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Catalog 335: Bracteates from Upper Swabia and the area of the Lake Constance | Coins and Medals from Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. the Dr. Karl Walter Bach Collection of coins of the Austrian nobility, Special collections of Bavaria, Lubeck, Wurttemberg as well as siege coins from the Eberhard Link Collection. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2020.
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