Saxe-Alt-Weimar 1579 thaler Dav-9768
This specimen was lot 246 in Künker sale 400 (Berlin, February 2024), where it sold for €2,600 (about US$3,373 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SACHSEN-WEIMAR, HERZOGTUM, Friedrich Wilhelm und Johann, 1573-1603. Reichstaler 1579, Saalfeld. In US-Plastikholder der NGC mit der Bewertung AU 55 (6693147-004). Selten in dieser Erhaltung. Hübsche Patina, vorzüglich/fast vorzüglich. (Germany, duchy of Saxe-Weimar, Frederick William and John, 1573-1603, thaler of 1579, Saalfeld mint. Graded NGC AU55, rare in this quality, handsome patina, extremely fine.)"
The division of Erfurt in 1572 permanently splintered Ernestine Thuringia into fragments which were not reunited until the establishment of the Weimar Republic in 1920. This particular version of Saxe-Weimar would lapse on the duke's death in 1605. It would be revived several times before World War One wiped away all the German principalities. This type was struck 1579-81 and is actually fairly common.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver.
Catalog reference: KM MB39, Dav-9768; Schnee 234; Koppe 25 a.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Davenport, John S., German Talers, 1500-1600, Frankfurt am Main, Numismatischer Verlag P. N. Schulten, 1979.
- Nicol, N. Douglas, Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of German Coins, 1501-Present, 3rd ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- Gernot Schnee, Sächsiche Taler, 1500-1800. Frankfurt Am Main, P. N. Schulten, 1982.
- [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: