Rietberg 1660 thaler Dav-7326
This specimen was lot 55744 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Pittsburgh, PA, August 2023), where it sold for $192. The catalog description[1] noted, "GERMANY. Rietberg. Taler, 1660. Johann IV. NGC VF-20. Silver plated copper type. From the Augustana Collection." Rietberg was an insignificant county between Ravensberg and Paderborn whose ruler seems to have made his living by counterfeiting. A Dutch leeuwendaalder such as this one from Utrecht has an obverse which reads, "MO·ARG·PRO·CON FOE·BELG·TRA·", while the reverse reads, "CONFIDENS·DNO·NON·MOVETVR:" This imitation reads on the obverse, "MOARCFROCN BOEDRIDTHF", which is not intended to mean anything. Various garbled legends exist, each assigned its own Davenport number. The county maintained its independence until it was absorbed into Westphalia in 1807.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: original coin was 27.68 g, 0.750 fine silver.
Catalog reference: Dav-7326, KM-71.1.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Davenport, John S., German Secular Talers, 1600-1700, Frankfurt: Numismatischer Verlag, 1976.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2023 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
Link to: