Saxe-Eisenberg 1679 thaler Dav-7421
This specimen was lot 4568 in Künker sale 441 (Osnabrück, March 2026), where it sold for €1,500 (about US$2,064 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SACHSEN-EISENBERG, HERZOGTUM Christian, 1680-1707. Reichstaler 1679, Gotha, auf den Tod seiner Gemahlin Christiana von Sachsen-Merseburg. R Attraktives Exemplar mit hübscher Patina, kl. Schrötlingsfehler am Rand, sehr schön-vorzüglich. (duchy of Saxe-Eisenberg, Christian, 1680-1707, thaler of 1679, Gotha mint, on the death of his wife, Christiana von Sachsen-Merseburg. Rare, attractive example with handsome patina, minor planchet defects, very fine to extremely fine.)"
"OMNIA VANITAS" ("All is vanity") appears on the reverse, wise advice when life is short and happiness is fleeting. Christiana, his wife, was only twenty when she died. The line lapsed on the death of the duke, after one generation. After much wrangling, his state passed to Saxe-Hildburghausen.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 28,69 g.
Catalog reference: KM 4, Dav-7421; Schnee 541; Steguweit 130.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- 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.
- 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, Frühjahrs-Auktion 441: Orders and Decorations from the Estate of Wilhelm, Duke of Bavaria (1752–1837), among others | Coins and Medals from the Middle Ages and Modern times, particularly Denmark, Habsburg, Norway, and Saxony, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2026.
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