Saxony 1534 2 thaler Dav-9723
This specimen was lot 4344 in Künker sale 406 (Osnabrück, March 2024), where it sold for €3,000 (about US$3,936 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"SACHSEN, KURFÜRSTENTUM, Johann Friedrich der Großmütige, 1532-1547. Doppeltaler 1534, Buchholz. RR Felder geglättet, Reste von Zaponlack, sehr schön. (Germany, electorate of Saxony, Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous, 1532-47, double thaler of 1534, Buchholz mint. Very rare, fields tooled, remnants of lacquer, very fine.)"
Johann Friedrich II was the fifth in the Ernestine line of Electors of Saxony. His father, Johann Friedrich I, in 1547, while a prisoner of the emperor, was forced to cede the electoral title and much land to his cousin Moritz of the Albertine line. On the death of Johann Friedrich I in 1552, Johann Friedrich II partitioned ducal Saxony with his brothers, initiating the fragmentation of that state. This rare type was also struck in 1535.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 52.47 g.
Catalog reference: KM MB203, Dav-9723; Schnee 83; Keilitz 243 var.
- 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 406: Gold Coins | Coins and Medals from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. Löwenstein-Wertheim | German Coins after 1871, a. o. Patterns from the Coenen Collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
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