Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg 1717-IT 1/4 thaler
The first specimen was lot 72298 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction (Santa Ana, CA, May 2017), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted, "GERMANY. Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. 1/4 Thaler, 1717-IT. Friedrich II (1691-1732). NGC MS-61. VERY SCARCE type. Nice strike with attractive iridescent toning and good underlying luster." The second specimen was lot 22680 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Philadelphia, August 2018), where it sold for $480. The catalog description[2] noted, "GERMANY. Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. 1/4 Taler, 1717-IT. Gotha Mint. NGC MS-61. From a mintage of only 1,656 pieces; struck to commemorate the bicentennial of the Reformation. Attractively preserved with deep multicolored hues over the surfaces. Highly popular as a type due to its reverse depiction of a storm (personified) battering a small sea island." On the occasion of the bicentennial of the Reformation, the duke also issued a 1/24 thaler (KM 191), 1/12 thaler (KM 192), half thaler (KM 196), several thalers (KM 197, 198, 199) and 1½ thaler (KM 201) and ducat (KM 203) and double ducat (KM 205) and 17 ducat (KM 207). Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was not the only state to mark the event; see this thaler from Stolberg.
Recorded mintage: 1,656.
Specification: silver.
Catalog reference: KM-194.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Ponterio, Rick, et al., The May 2017 Collector's Choice Sale, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2017.
- [2]Ponterio, Richard, Kyle Ponterio and Chris Chatigny, The August 2018 Philadelphia ANA Auction: World Coins and Selections from the El Dorado Collection of Colombian Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2018.
Link to: