Sitten (17)21 1/2 batzen KM-30
This specimen was lot 4592 in Sincona sale 95 (Zürich, October 2024), where it sold for 160 CHF (about US$222 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCHWEIZ Sitten, Bistum, Franz Joseph Supersaxo, 1701-1734. Halbbatzen 1721, Sitten. (einfeldiges Wappen). Selten. Sehr schön. (Switzerland, bishopric of Sitten (Sion), Rare, Very Fine.)"
The bishopric of Sitten (Sion in French) encompassed most of what is now the canton of Valais. The bishops involved themselves in the petty feuds and struggles of the day, going so far as to participate in the battle of Marignano (1515). They successfully resisted the Reformation but were forced to cede their secular power in 1630. Coinage continued into the eighteenth century. This type was struck 1721 only and was 1/56 of a thaler. It depicts the bishop's arms inside a circular rope border; the simultaneous KM 26 shows the bishop's arms quartered on a conventional shield.
Record mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.53 g, billon, 22 mm diameter, this specimen 1.76 g.
Catalog reference: KM 30, Palézieux 264, D.T. 972, HMZ 2-1066d.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- Richter, Jürg, and Ruedi Kunzmann, Neuer HMZ-Katalog, Band 2: Die Münzen der Schweiz und Liechtensteins 15//16. Jahrhundert bis Gegenwart, Regenstauf, Germany: H. Gietl Verlag GmbH, 2006.
- [1]Richter, Jürg, SINCONA Auction 95: The Konrad Bürki Collection - Part 2 (Swiss Cantonal Coins), Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2024.
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