Transylvania 1661-CV thaler Dav-4766
This specimen was lot 2131 in Künker sale 263 (Osnabrück, June 2015), where it sold for €8,000 (about US$10,335 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SIEBENBÜRGEN, FÜRSTEN Johann Kemeny, 1661-1662. Reichstaler 1661, CV, Klausenburg. IOANNES : KE - D : G : PRI : TR Geharnischtes Hüftbild r. mit Kalpag (Pelzhaube), mit der Rechten das Zepter schulternd, die Linke am Schwertgriff//PAR · REG · HVN · DO · ET · SIC · CO · 1661 Gekrönte, mit Adlerköpfen verzierte Kartusche, darin das vierfeldige, siebenbürgische Wappen mit dem Familienwappen Kemeny (aus einer Krone wachsender Hirsch) als Mittelschild, unten zu den Seiten das Münzstättenzeichen C - V (Colos-Vár = Klausenburg). RR Hübsche Patina, kl. Henkelspur, sehr schön +. (principality of Transylvania, John Kemeny, 1661-62, thaler of 1661, Klausenburg mint. Obverse: armored half length bust with fur cap and scepter and sword; reverse: crowned Transylvanian arms in cartouche with Kemeny arms in escutcheon dividing the mintmark "C-V." Rare, toned, small mount mark, very fine or better.)"
Like most coins of Transylvania, this type (struck 1661 only) is expensive. As Transylvania was never part of the Holy Roman Empire and was not at this point controlled by the Hapsburgs, we have not included it in the "silver thalers of Germany." The SCWC notes many varieties for 1661, including Dav-4766, -4767, -4768, -4769 and -4770.
Recorded mintage: unknown but rare, even by Transylvanian standards.
Specification: silver, this specimen 28,73 g.
Catalog reference: Dav-4766; Resch 11, KM A345.
- 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 263, The Friedrich Popken collection of gold and silver coinages | Coins and Medals from Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. the collection of Ernst Otto Horn, part III, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2015.
Links to: