|
Sale 46
|
|
press UP arrow key to increase the zoom ratio.
press DOWN arrow key to decrease the zoom ratio.
press RIGHT arrow key to increase the zoom window size.
press LEFT arrow key to decrease the zoom window size.
|
|
Lot 578
German States -- Brunswick-Lüneburg. 1 ¼ "Redemption" Taler, 1662-HS (Zellerfeld). Dav-6531; Wel-1568. 36.2 grams. Georg Wilhelm. Bust right in circle of fourteen shields. Reverse: Piety and Justice in a landscape under a tree. Arm from heaven with a wreath. Beautifully toned. Rare. NGC graded AU-55.
The first multiple talers were struck by Duke Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel in 1574 for an ingenius reason. Silver output from the mines in the Harz Mountains was on the upswing, and at the same time uncertainty spread across the region. The Reformation initiated by Luther was in full swing. Catholic church properties were being seized and sold off. Pogroms against Jews were appearing here and there. The Inquisition had already started burning Protestants at the stake. Alliances and allegiances reacted to all these threats.
Julius brilliantly conceived of a plan to put his Harz Mountains silver to good use. A quantity of the silver was set aside as a hedge against the exigencies of war. To do this, he struck a series of Thalers in denominations ranging from 1-1/4 up to 16 thalers. Next he issued orders that property owners were to purchase at least one of these new larger coins, the size of the denomination depending on the owner's wealth and rank. The owners of these larger pieces were required to produce the coins on demand and redeem them in exchange for the local debased coinage. While the coins could be pawned if necessary, they could not be sold or traded away. Thus Julius had on hand a substantial amount of money with known whereabouts, sensibly diffused and spread throughout the country, thereby reducing the risk of seizure of sizable treasure during a conflict. For this reason the coins were named in the inscription as "Julius Loeser" (redeemers) on the reverses of the 1574 issues -- the appellation of "redemption Talers" attaching to these coins. In this lot we find a delightful example of this scheme.
Estimated Value $2,000 - 2,400.
Ex Irving Goodman Collection.
|
| |
| Realized $2,300 |
|
