Silesia 1624-BZ thaler Dav-3165

Künker sale 400, lot 327

Silesia in 1648. Neisse is south of Brieg

This specimen was lot 327 in Künker sale 400 (Berlin, February 2024), where it sold for €17,000 (about US$22,054 including buyer's fees). The catalog description^[1] noted,

"RÖMISCH-DEUTSCHES REICH, Ferdinand II. 1592-1618-1637. Reichstaler 1624, BZ, Neisse (?). Von großer Seltenheit. Feine Patina, sehr schön. Exemplar der Auktion Münchner Münzhandlung Karl Kreß 121, München 1961, Nr. 855. (Holy Roman Empire, Ferdinand II, 1618-37, thaler of 1624, Neisse mint. Extremely rare, fine patina, very fine.)"

The Neisse best known today is the river Neisse which divides Poland from Germany. However, there is a town of Neisse in central Silesia which was the site of a Hapsburg mint 1622-25, in the opening years of the Thirty Years War. This is one of the thalers struck there. It is very similar to Dav-3154, struck the same year at Breslau, but the arms and the legend on the reverse are different. The presence of the initials "BZ" on both suggests that one mintmaster ran both mints.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: silver, this specimen 27.09 g.

Catalog reference: KM 141 (listed under Silesia); Dav-3165; F. u. S. - (see 140); Voglh. -.

Source:

• 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., European Crowns, 1600-1700, Galesburg, IL, 1974.
• ^[1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 400: Selected löser of the Dukes of Guelph from the Friedrich Popken Collection | Numismatic treasures from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. "multiple portraits" from a Westphalian private collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.

Link to:

• 1623 thaler, Joachimsthal mint
• 1623 double thaler, Prague mint
• 1624 10 kreuzer, Hall mint
• 1624 quarter thaler, Prague mint
• 1624 half thaler, Joachimsthal mint
• 1624 half thaler, Prague mint
• 1624-BZ half thaler, Neisse mint
• 1624-BZ thaler, Breslau mint
• 1624 thaler, Hall mint
• 1624 thaler, Vienna mint
• 1624 thaler, short bust, Vienna mint
• 1624 thaler, half-length bust, Vienna mint
• 1624 thaler, Vienna mint
• 1624 thaler, Ensisheim mint
• 1624 thaler, Graz mint
• 1624 thaler, Graz mint
• 1624 thaler, Prague mint
• 1624-B thaler, Brunn mint
• 1624-B HG thaler, Brunn mint
• 1624 double thaler, Vienna mint
• 1625 thaler, Prague mint
• 1625 thaler, Graz mint
• 1625 thaler, Joachimsthal mint
• 1625 thaler, Prague mint
• 1631 thaler, Breslau mint
• Coins and currency dated 1624