Sale: CNG 75, Lot: 1216. Estimate $150.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 23 May 2007.  Sold For $150. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GERMANY, Sachsen. Ernst and Albrecht. 1482-1485. AR 1/2 Schwertgroschen (1.98 g, 7h). Zwickau/Schneeberg mint. Dated 1482. Coat of arms of the elector of Saxony (crossed swords) within trefoil / Coat of arms of Landsberg-Meissen within trefoil. Krug 1610-18; Levinson I-185; Frey 232. VF, toned.

From the Robert A. Levinson Collection.

When this coin was produced, brothers Ernst and Albrecht were joint rulers of Saxony after the death of their father, Elector Frederick II of the Wettin dynasty. In the 1485 Treaty of Leipzig, the dukes agreed to split their territory. Ernst, the elder brother, took Thuringia and western Saxony along with the electoral title (Elector of Saxony). Albrecht, on the other hand, took the eastern regions, including the margravate of Meissen. This division was the foundation of two separate lines of the Saxon dynasty – Ernestine and Albertine – that would continue to have influence over the area for several centuries.