Rhenish Confederation 1808-BH heller
This specimen was lot 2954 in Steve Album Auction 53 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2025), where it sold for $180. The catalog description[1] noted, "RHINE CONFEDERATION: Charles Theodore of Dalberg, 1806-1813, AE heller, 1808, mintmaster initials BH, a lovely lustrous chocolate brown mint state example! PCGS graded MS63 BN, ex Joe Sedillot Collection. As a statesman, Dalberg was distinguished by his patriotic attitude, whether in ecclesiastical matters, in which he leaned to the Febronian view of a German national church, or in his efforts to galvanize the atrophied machinery of the Holy Roman Empire into some sort of effective central government of Germany. Failing in this, he turned to the rising star of Napoleon, believing that he had found in him the only force strong enough to save Germany from dissolution. In 1808, the Confederation of the Rhine was a powerful French satellite made up of 35 German states, deeply involved in supporting Napoleon’s wars, especially in Spain. It symbolized the end of the Holy Roman Empire and the reshaping of Germany under French influence." This type was struck in Frankfurt 1808, 1810 and 1812. One convention thaler was 576 heller. The Rhenish Confederation was a shortlived German state set up by Napoleon to replace the antique Holy Roman Empire. It grouped his allies (Baden, Wurttemberg and Bavaria) and his puppets (Berg, Isenburg) but vanished after his fall.
Recorded mintage: 33,000.
Specification: 1.34 g, copper, 19.5 mm diameter, plain edge.
Catalog reference: KM-1.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Hanbing Feng, Auction 53, featuring Selections from the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld, Almer H. Orr III, Dr. Dirk Loer and Joe Sedillot Collections, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2025.
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