Saxony 1544-T 1/2 thaler KM-MB283
This specimen was lot 4391 in Künker sale 441 (Osnabrück, March 2026), where it sold for €2,800 (about US$3,852 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SACHSEN, KURFÜRSTENTUM Johann Friedrich der Großmütige und Moritz, 1541-1547. 1/2 Taler 1544, Buchholz oder Schneeberg. RR Attraktives Exemplar mit hübscher Patina, kl. Randfehler, sehr schön-vorzüglich. (electorate of Saxony, John Frederick the Magnanimous and Maurice, 1541-47, half thaler of 1544, Buchholz or Schneeberg mint. Very rare, attractive example with handsome patina, minor edge cracks, very fine to extremely fine.)"
For 1544, the SCWC lists the following half guldengroschen: KM MB281 (Buchholz mint, mintmark T, citing duke Heinrich), MB282 (Annaberg mint, star or wheel mintmark), MB283 (Buchholz and Schneeberg mints, mintmark T, shown here) and MB286 (Goslar mint, joint coinage with Philip of Hesse). This type was struck 1542-47 and undated. On Johann Friedrich's capture and imprisonment in 1547, the electoral cap was taken away from the Ernestine line and given to the Albertine line by the emperor as punishment for rebellion.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 14.5 g, silver, this specimen 14,46 g.
Catalog reference: KM MB283, Keilitz 200.1.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Nicol, N. Douglas, Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of German Coins, 1501-Present, 3rd ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- [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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