Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Thaler - Volkmar Wolfgang St. Andreas Ausbeute
| Issuer | Hohnstein, County of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1574-1580 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 29.06 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Two crested helmets displayed above a quartered coat of arms incorporating the central shield of Klettenburg, the whole constituting the armorial achievement of Count Volkmar Wolfgang I of Hohnstein. A circular Latin legend surrounds the composition, reading the titles of the issuing count. The heraldic design is rendered in the robust late-Renaissance style typical of sixteenth-century German mining thalers. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Full-length figure of Saint Andrew, nimbed and bearded, standing facing and grasping his saltire cross diagonally behind him, the arms of the cross dividing the abbreviated last two digits of the regnal year to either side of the saint's body. The figure is rendered in bold relief within a beaded inner circle, with the continuation of the Latin titular legend disposed around the circumference of the field. The composition is characteristic of the Ausbeute (mining yield) thaler tradition of the Harz region. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Hohnstein thalers of this period were Ausbeute issues — coins struck directly from the yield of a specific mine, in this case the St. Andreas working. Ausbeute coinage served as a form of mining dividend made tangible, presented to investors and court officials as proof of productivity. Count Volkmar Wolfgang ruled Hohnstein from 1572 until his death in 1580, making this a short series by definition, and the county itself was absorbed into the Electorate of Saxony shortly after — which curtailed any continuation of the type.
Müseler's reference remains the authoritative catalog for German mining coinage, and his number 31/65 places this squarely among the rarer provincial Ausbeute issues of the Lower Saxon Circle.