Saxony 1551 thaler Dav-9787
This specimen was lot 1172 in Künker sale 293 (Osnabrück, Germany, July 2017), where it sold for €2,050 (about US$2,763 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SACHSEN, KURFÜRSTENTUM, Moritz, 1547-1553. Taler 1551, Annaberg. Mit MAVRICI in der Vorderseitenumschrift und ohne zweiten Zierkreis auf der Rückseite. Sehr selten in dieser Erhaltung. Feine Tönung, fast Stempelglanz. (Germany, electorate of Saxony, Maurice, 1547-53, thaler of 1551, Annaberg mint, with MAVRICI in obverse legend. Very rare in this quality, fine toning, about uncirculated.)"
Saxony, one of the larger divisions of Germany and blessed with numerous silver mines, issued large numbers of thalers. This Davenport type is an early date for Saxony and is listed for 1548-53. On Johann Friedrich's capture and imprisonment in 1547, the electoral cap was taken away from the Ernestine line and given to Moritz of the Albertine line by the emperor as punishment for rebellion. Thereafter, the Thuringian state splintered into the Saxon duchies.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver.
Catalog reference: Dav-9787; Schnee 690.
- 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.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Gernot Schnee, Sächsiche Taler, 1500-1800, Frankfurt Am Main, P. N. Schulten, 1982.
- [1]Künker Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Katalog 293: Münzen aus Mittelalter und Neuzeit u. a. die westfälischen Privatsammlungen Werner Bröker und Bernd Terletzki, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2017.
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