Coin Prize Stein

Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 1457. Estimate $6000.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $5000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GERMANY, Ornate Stein. . Silver plated stein, 32.5 cm high, base diameter 17.5 cm. Presented as a prize in 1884 to Lt. Count Lehndorff-Steinort by the ladies of the Lübeck-Travemünde Horse Racing Club. On the base, the name and description of the winning horse is inscribed: “Bonze, a 5 year-old brown gelding from Wild Oats on the Bronze.” Top and sides encrusted with silver coins of various denominations, including issues of Wilhelm III, King of Prussia; Wilhelm IV, King of Great Britain and Hannover; Adolph, Duke of Nassau; Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg; Ludwig III, Grandduke of Hesse; Paul Friedrich Emil Leopold, Prince of Lippe; Wilhelm, Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg; Wilhelm and Augusta, King and Queen of Prussia; Leopold Friedrich, Duke of Anhalt; Johann, King of Sachsen; Ernst, Duke of Sachsen-Altenburg; Friedrich Wilhelm, Grandduke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia; Bernhard, Duke of Sachsen-Meiningen; Nicholas Friedrich, Duke of Oldenburg; Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein; city coinage of Lübeck, Frankfurt, and Hamburg; and several commemorative issues. Underside hallmarked with “750” and crowned bust facing in oval. Exquisite workmanship.

From the Collection of a California Gentleman.

The Lehndorff-Steinorts were a wealthy East Prussian family of noble descent with a history of expertise in horse breeding. Although his first name was not recorded on the trophy, the winner of this prize was likely Siegfried Graf von Lehndorff. Siegfried was the son of a master horse breeder who brought English thoroughbreds to Prussia in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He was also a relative of Heinrich Ahasverus Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort, one of the conspirators in the failed assassination attempt against Hitler on 20 July 1944. Within two months of being captured, Heinrich von Lehndorff-Steinort was executed, his family’s holdings (including horse farm) were confiscated, and his wife and children were sent to labor camps.