Saxe-Alt-Weimar 1597 thaler Dav-9777
This specimen was lot 4401 in Künker sale 406 (Osnabrück, March 2024), where it sold for €440 (about US$577 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SACHSEN-WEIMAR, HERZOGTUM, Friedrich Wilhelm und Johann, 1573-1603. Reichstaler 1597, Saalfeld. Hübsche Patina, sehr schön-vorzüglich. (Germany, duchy of Saxe-Weimar, Frederick William and John, 1573-1603, thaler of 1597, Saalfeld mint. Handsome patina, very fine to extremely fine.)"
The division of Erfurt in 1572 permanently splintered Ernestine Thuringia into fragments which were not reunited until the establishment of the Weimar Republic in 1920. This particular version of Saxe-Weimar would lapse on the duke's death in 1605. It would be revived several times before World War One wiped away all the German principalities. This type was struck 1594-97 along with a double thaler (Dav-9776). Another thaler of 1597, KM MB79/Dav-9779, has both princes on the obverse.
Recorded mintage: unknown but common.
Specification: silver, this specimen 28.96 g.
Catalog reference: KM MB70, Dav-9777; Schnee 250; Koppe 96.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Davenport, John S., German Talers, 1500-1600, Frankfurt am Main, Numismatischer Verlag P. N. Schulten, 1979.
- Nicol, N. Douglas, Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of German Coins, 1501-Present, 3rd ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- Gernot Schnee, Sächsiche Taler, 1500-1800, Frankfurt Am Main, P. N. Schulten, 1982.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 406: Gold Coins | Coins and Medals from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. Löwenstein-Wertheim | German Coins after 1871, a. o. Patterns from the Coenen Collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
Link to: