Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 1929. Estimate $7500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 8 June 2005.  Sold For $5500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

AUSTRIA, Hall (Tyrol). Sigismund, as Archduke. 1439-1490. AR Half Guldiner (15.68 gm, 10h). Dated 1484. + ` SIGISMVNDVS ` ARChIDVX ` AVSTRIE `, crowned and armored half length bust right, holding sceptre / Mounted knight charging right, holding banner aloft; date below, all within circle of sixteen shields with coats-of-arms. Moeser & Dworschak 60; Frey 261; Grierson 453. Good VF, choice old collection toning with a touch of iridescence. The earliest dated large silver coin of Europe. ($7500)

Sigismund's half guldiners and full guldiners of 1486 are regarded as the bridge between medieval and modern coinage. The types are reminiscent of medieval knighthood, but they represent the first crown-size silver coins to circulate in Europe. The increasing pulse of international trade in the late 15th century created a need for a large silver coin, and fresh discoveries of silver ore in the Alpine foothills provided the raw material for their production. Adding a prominent AD date merely served to highlight the change taking place in European coinage. A landmark in numismatic history.