Transylvania 1645-NB thaler Dav-4730
This specimen was lot 5496 in Künker sale 335 (Osnabrück, Germany, March 2020), where it sold for €44,000 (about US$57,579 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"UNGARN, SIEBENBÜRGEN, FÜRSTENTUM, Georg Rakoczi I. 1630-1648. Reichstaler 1645, NB, Nagybánya. Von größter Seltenheit. Feine Tönung, min. Randfehler, vorzüglich. Erworben im europäischen Münzenhandel vor März 1971. (Hungary, principality of Transylvania, George Rakoczy I, 1630-48, thaler of 1645, Nagybánya mint. Extremely rare, fine toning, minor rim bumps, extremely fine.)"
The princes of Transylvania were sandwiched between the Ottoman Empire to the south and the Hapsburg dominions to the west and attempted to maintain independence from both. The Hapsburgs reconquered Hungary from the Turks in the 1680's and ended Transylvanian autonomy. Other thalers for 1645 include Dav-4729, -4729C, -4731.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 28.70 g.
Catalog reference: KM 255, Dav-4730; Resch 37 var.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1600-1700, Galesburg, IL, 1974.
- Adolf Resch, Siebenburgische Münzen und Medaillen von 1538 bis Gegenwart. Hermannstadt, 1901 (reprinted in Montreal, 1965).
- [1]Künker Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Catalog 335: Bracteates from Upper Swabia and the area of the Lake Constance | Coins and Medals from Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. the Dr. Karl Walter Bach Collection of coins of the Austrian nobility, Special collections of Bavaria, Lubeck, Wurttemberg as well as siege coins from the Eberhard Link Collection. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2020.
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