Schaumburg-Pinneberg 1593 2-1/2 thaler Dav-LSA454
This specimen was lot 270 in Künker sale 400 (Berlin, February 2024), where it sold for €13,000 (about US$16,865 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN, HOLSTEIN-SCHAUENBURG, GRAFSCHAFT, Adolf XIII. 1581-1601. 2 1/2facher Reichstaler 1593, Altona. ADOL · D : G · CO · HO - SC · E · ST · DO · I · GE - 93 Das dreifach behelmte, vierfeldige Wappen mit dem Wappen von Sternberg im ersten und vierten Feld, dem Wappen von Gehmen im zweiten und dritten Feld und dem holsteinisch-schauenburgischen Nesselblatt als Mittelschild//HATS - GOTT · VORSEHN · SO · WIRTS - WOL · GESCHN Der geharnischte Graf Adolf reitet r. mit Streitkolben in der rechten Hand. Von großer Seltenheit. Sehr schön. Exemplar der Auktion Bank Leu 34, Zürich 1983, Nr. 241 und der Slg. Dr. Hergen Boyksen, Auktion Fritz Rudolf Künker 337, Osnabrück 2020, Nr. 241. (Germany, county of Holstein-Schauenburg, Adolf XIII, 1581-1601, 2½ thaler of 1593, Altona mint. Obverse: triple helmeted, quartered arms with Sternberg in the first and fourth quarters and Gehmen in the second and third quarters and Holstein-Schauenberg as the escutcheon; reverse: the mounted and armored count charges right with a mace. Extremely rare, very fine.)
Graf Adolf XIII. wurde 1547 als dritter Sohn des Grafen Otto V. aus erster Ehe geboren. Nach dem Tod des Vaters 1576 wurde den Regierungsräten der Schauenburgischen Lande die Regierung auf 10 Jahre übertragen, um die Schulden begleichen zu können. Noch vor Ablauf der 10 Jahre beanspruchte aber Adolfs ältester Bruder Hermann (der das Bistum Minden verloren hatte) 1581 die Übernahme der Regierung. Die Stände wählten aber statt seiner den Grafen Adolf zum regierenden Herrn beider Grafschaften. Er vermählte sich 1583 mit Elisabeth, Tochter des Herzogs Julius von Braunschweig und Lüneburg. Er war eine starke Persönlichkeit, doch dem Alkohol nicht abgeneigt. Adolf XIII. verlor seinen einzigen Sohn am 21. Januar 1601 und starb selbst am 2. Juli 1601 auf dem Schauenburgischen Hof in Minden und wurde in Stadthagen beigesetzt. (Count Adolf XIII was born in 1547 as the third son of count Otto V from his first marriage. After his father's death in 1576, the government of the Schauenburg Lands was transferred to the government for ten years in order to be able to pay off the debts. Before the ten years were up, Adolf's eldest brother Hermann (who had lost the diocese of Minden) claimed power in 1581. Instead, the estates elected Count Adolf as the ruling lord of both counties. In 1583 he married Elisabeth, daughter of Duke Julius of Braunschweig and Lüneburg. He was a strong personality, but not averse to alcohol. Adolf XIII lost his only son on January 21, 1601 and he died on July 2, 1601 at the Schauburgischer Hof in Minden and was buried in Stadthagen.)"
Wikipedia comments,
"Holstein-Pinneberg was one of the territories partitioned from the County of Holstein-Itzehoe (the others being Holstein-Rendsburg and Holstein-Plön) following the death of Gerhard I. This resulted in the Pinneberg line of the Counts of Schauenburg and Holstein, who were called Holstein-Pinneberg or Holstein-Schauenburg. The Schauenburgs (later, on the Weser, called the Schaumburgs) ruled over the County of Schaumburg (which became a principality in 1620) and over Holstein-Pinneberg."
We follow the SCWC and attribute this to Schaumburg-Pinneberg instead of Holstein-Schauenburg but it seems to be the same territory on the north bank of the Elbe just downstream of Hamburg. In the nineteenth century, a quip attributed to British statesman Lord Palmerston stated: "Only three people have ever really understood the Schleswig-Holstein business – the Prince Consort, who is dead – a German professor, who has gone mad – and I, who have forgotten all about it."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 70.5 g, silver, 57 mm diameter, this specimen 72.62 g.
Catalog reference: KM MB36, Dav-LSA454; Lange see 787; Weinm. -.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Davenport, John S., Large Size Silver Coins of the World, 16th-19th Centuries, 3rd Ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1991.
- 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, Katalog 400: Selected löser of the Dukes of Guelph from the Friedrich Popken Collection | Numismatic treasures from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. "multiple portraits" from a Westphalian private collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
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