Basel 1583 1/2 guldenthaler

Sincona sale 95, lot 4035

This specimen was lot 4035 in Sincona sale 95 (Zürich, October 2024), where it sold for 1,600 CHF (about US$2,218 including buyer's fees). The catalog description^[1] noted,

"SCHWEIZ Basel, Stadt und Kanton, Halber Guldentaler 1583, Basel. Sehr selten. Sehr schön. Kratzer. (Switzerland, canton of Basel, half gulden thaler of 1583, Basel mint. Very rare, Very Fine, Scratches.)"

This type was struck 1566, 1571-73, 1576, 1581, 1584 and undated. This date is not listed in Numista. Tho marked thirty kreuzer, it is universally catalogued as a half guldenthaler. Later, in the seventeenth century, the thaler rose to ninety kreuzer, making the gulden (the "thaler" part of the name was dropped) two-thirds of a thaler.

Record mintage: unknown.

Specification: 11.83 g, silver, 33 mm diameter, this specimen 11.87 g.

Catalog reference: Winterstein (Taler) 429, HMZ 2-62r.

Sources:

• Richter, Jürg, and Ruedi Kunzmann, Neuer HMZ-Katalog, Band 2: Die Münzen der Schweiz und Liechtensteins 15//16. Jahrhundert bis Gegenwart, Regenstauf, Germany: H. Gietl Verlag GmbH, 2006.
• Winterstein, Christian, Die Taler Von Basel, Basel: Schweizerischer Bankverein Basel, 1983.
• ^[1]Richter, Jürg, SINCONA Auction 95: The Konrad Bürki Collection - Part 2 (Swiss Cantonal Coins), Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2024.

Link to:

• (15)81 ½ guldenthaler (30 kreuzer)
• (15)82 60 kreuzer (guldenthaler)
• (15)83 60 kreuzer (guldenthaler)
• (15)84 60 kreuzer (guldenthaler)
• Coins and currency dated 1583