Westphalia 1810-C 20 centimes
This specimen was lot 4431 in Künker sale 335 (Osnabruck, Germany, March 2020), where it sold for €1,000 (about US$1,309 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"WESTPHALEN, KÖNIGREICH, Hieronymus Napoleon, 1807-1813. 20 Centimes 1810, C. Dickstück; Mit glattem Rand. Vorzüglich. (Germany, kingdom of Westphalia, Jerome Napoleon, 1807-13, twenty centimes of 1810. Thick flan with plain edge, Extremely fine.)"
This type was struck in Cassel 1808-12, as part of a series of decimal coinage that ranged from one centime to 40 franken. This example may have been a piefort struck for presentation. At the same time, traditional German denominations such as pfennig, mariengroschen and thalers were issued. Jerome, Napoleon's brother, served him faithfully, stripping his domain of men and money for the Russian campaign. The kingdom collapsed after the battle of Leipzig. At the Congress of Vienna, the area was restored to its former lords, Hannover and Prussia.
Recorded mintage: unknown but scarce.
Specification: 3.87 g, 0.200 fine silver, this specimen 6,03 g.
Catalog reference: KM 97, AKS 37 Anm.; J. - (zu 34); Stutzmann - (zu BST 1582).
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [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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