Wismar (15)81-AR 16 schilling
This specimen was lot 5473 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €5,500 (about US$7,107 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"WISMAR, STADT, 1/2 Reichstaler (16 Schilling) 1581, mit Titel Rudolfs II. Von großer Seltenheit. Leicht gereinigt, sehr schön. (city of Wismar, half thaler or 16 schilling of 1581, struck in the name of Rudolf II. Extremely rare, lightly cleaned, very fine.)"
Wismar was a port on the Baltic sea. Long part of the duchy of Mecklenburg, it obtained considerable independence as a member of the Hanseatic League. Altho struck for a number of years (1581, 1583, 1588, 1591-92), all the dates are rare. Sixteen schilling made half a thaler in the sixteenth century. Later, it would take 48 schilling to make a thaler.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 14,44 g.
Catalog reference: KM MB66, Kunzel 108.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Nicol, N. Douglas, Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of German Coins, 1501-Present, 3rd ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- [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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