Mainz 1729-BIB 1/8 thaler

Stack's Bowers October 2021 Collector's Choice sale, lot 70714

This specimen was lot 70714 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, October 2021), where it sold for $312. The catalog description^[1] noted,

"GERMANY. Mainz. 1/8 Taler, 1729-BIB. Lothar Franz, Freiherr von Schonborn. PCGS MS-63. A sharply struck and softly lustrous coin, issued upon the death of Lothar Franz, with pleasing dark toning throughout.

PCGS has called this a 3 Kreuzer on the holder. However, the 3 Kreuzer has a "3" within a globe on the reverse at about 6 o'clock and a smaller legend, neither of which this issue has. This confusion likely stems from the image presented in the Standard Catalog for the 3 Kreuzer, which erroneously displays this type instead. The 1/8 Taler--the denomination here--is a slightly larger module weighing ~3.2 g, while the 3 Kreuzer is somewhat smaller and weighs ~1.9 g."

Altho the archbishop was an important issuer of goldgulden during the Middle Ages, his numismatic influence had declined to insignificance by the eighteenth century and most of the coinage is rare.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: silver.

Catalog reference: KM-251.

Source:

• Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
• ^[1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The October 2021 Collector's Choice sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.

Link to:

• 1703-VBW kreuzer struck in gold
• 1729-BIB groschen, death of Lothar Franz
• 1729-BIB quarter thaler, death of Lothar Franz
• Mainz 1730 6 ducats Fr-521 for Breslau and Mainz
• 1732 groschen, death of Franz Ludwig
• 1732 quarter thaler, death of Franz Ludwig
• 1738 ducat
• Coins and currency dated 1729