Schlick (15)26 1/2 thaler KM-MB21
This specimen was lot 3554 in Sincona Auction 101 (Zürich, October 2025), where it sold for 1,500 CHF (about US$2,261 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"RDR / ÖSTERREICH Schlick, Grafschaft, Stephan, Burian, Heinrich, Hieronymus und Lorenz, 1505-1532. 1/2 Taler 1526, Joachimsthal. Mit dem Titel von Ludwig II., König von Ungarn und Böhmen. Ausbeute der Joachimsthaler Gruben. Münzzeichen "Lilie". Münzmeister Caspar von Mergenthal (?). Sehr selten. Sehr schön. Poröser Schrötling und kleine Randfehler. (Austria, county of Schlick, Stephen, Burian, Henry, Jerome and Laurence, 1505-32, half thaler of 1526, Joachimsthal mint, struck in the name of Louis II, king of Hungary and Bohemia, for the Joachimsthal mines, lily mintmark. Very rare, Very Fine, Small flan flaws and edge nicks.)"
In the mid-fifteenth century, large deposits of silver were discovered in the Alps and Carpathian mountains. At the same time, the screw press, originally invented to crush grapes, was adapted to minting, enabling the production of large coins. Thus the guldiner (later called the thaler) was born. The counts of Schlick were the original proprietors of the mint at Joachimsthal, where the first "thalers" were struck. Minor coinage exists but is rare. A very similar half thaler was struck in the name of the Hapsburg Ferdinand I.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 14.52 g.
Catalog reference: KM MB21, Slg. Donebauer 3771 var.
- 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]Richter, Jurg, SINCONA Auction 101: World Coins, Medals and Banknotes, Swiss Confederate Coins, Medals and Banknotes, Shooting Coins and Medals, Zurich: SINCONA AG, 2025.
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