Weissenburg (1623-32) thaler Dav-5916
This specimen was lot 5582 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €26,000 (about US$33,597 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANKREICH/ELSASS, WEISSENBURG, STADT, Taler o. J. mit Titel Ferdinands II. * MON * NOV * IMP * CIVIT * WEISSENBVRG * A * RH Das Stadtwappen im Blätterkreis// FERDINAND * II * D * G * ROM * IMP * SEM * AVG : Gekrönter Doppeladler, auf der Brust Reichsapfel. Von größter Seltenheit. Hübsche Patina, kl. Schrötlingsfehler am Rand, sehr schön-vorzüglich. Das elsässische Weißenburg hat seinen Ursprung in einer im 7. Jahrhundert gegründeten Benediktinerabtei, die nicht zuletzt wegen ihrer berühmten Schule im hohen Mittelalter große, überregionale Bedeutung erlangte. Die Stadt selbst wurde 1247 zuerst erwähnt und 1305 unabhängig vom Abt. Von da an zählte Weißenburg zu den zehn freien Reichsstädten im Elsaß. (city of Weissenburg, undated thaler, struck in the name of Ferdinand II. Obverse: city arms in floriate circle; reverse: crowned doubled headed eagle with the imperial orb on its breast. Extremely rare, handsome patina, minor edge defects, very fine to extremely fine. Weissenburg in Alsace has its origins in a Benedictine abbey founded in the 7th century, which attained great national importance not least because of its famous school in the High Middle Ages. The city itself was first mentioned in 1247 and became independent of the abbot in 1305. From then on Weißenburg was one of the ten free imperial cities in Alsace.)"
Two other thalers are mentioned for this town in this period, Dav-5915 and Dav-5917, which show the city arms in an ornate cartouche instead of a plain field as shown here. All are rare.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 29,12 g.
Catalog reference: KM 19, Dav-5916; Engel/Lehr 19; de Mey 62; Slg. Voltz 798.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Davenport, John S., German Church and City Talers, 1600-1700, Galesburg, IL, 1967.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 386: Brakteaten | Mainz | Bibliothek Prof. Dr. Niklot Klüßendorf | Mittelalter und Neuzeit | Goldprägungen | Deutsche Münzen ab 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2023.
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