Mansfeld-Artern 1616-AK thaler Dav-6950
This specimen was lot 1368 in Stephen Album sale 27 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2017), where it sold for $352.50. The catalog description[1] noted, "MANSFELD-ARTERN: Volrat I, 1615-1627, AR thaler, 1616. also citing Jobst II of Eisleben & Wolfgang III of Bornstädt, helmeted arms dividing A K // St. George slaying the dragon, VF, ex Hans Mondorf Collection." It seems the various branches of the Mansfeld line all lived in Schloss Mansfeld but occupying different parts: Vorderort (outer castle), Mittelort (middle castle) and Vorderort (inner castle). The properties were shuffled among the different lines as various counts failed to produce heirs. In 1580, the elector of Saxony seized most of the property for debt. Mansfeld-Artern was one of the many subdivisions of Mansfeld but went extinct after two generations and was absorbed by Mansfeld-Bornstedt in 1631. This specimen appears extensively tooled on the obverse.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 27.78 g.
Catalog reference: Dav-6950; KM-13.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Davenport, John S., German Secular Talers, 1600-1700, Frankfurt: Numismatischer Verlag, 1976.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 27, featuring the Dr. Paul Stevens Collection of Indian Coins, Part VI, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2016.
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