Sale: Nomos 1, Lot: 186. Estimate CHF50000.  Closing Date: Tuesday, 5 May 2009.  Sold For CHF65000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

AUSTRIA, Holy Roman Empire. Maximilian I. 1493-1519. Quarter Guldiner of 15 Kreuzers (Silver, 7.66 g 1), Hall, under the magistrate Bernhard Beheim the elder, with dies cut by Gian Marco Cavalli of Mantua, undated but 1506. MAXIMILIANVS ROMANORV.REX.ET.C (partially ligate) Armored bust of Maximilian to left, wearing flat beretta Rev. MONETA.NOVA.COMIT.TIROLIS Crowned eagle with spread wings, head to left and Austrian arms on its breast. Armand III, 47C. Domanig, Erzh. 11. Egg. 1. Moser & Tursky - (but see p. 35 for this engraver’s work at Hall). Of the greatest rarity. A splendid coin, beautifully toned, and with a superb Renaissance portrait of the finest Italian style. Lightly double-struck in the legends without affecting the design. Extremely fine.

Ex Leu 74, 19 October 1998, 1624 and from the collection of Count Wilczek, Hess 200, 21 May 1930, 51.

Gian Marco Cavalli (1454-after 1508) was a sculptor, goldsmith and engraver who worked for most of his life in Mantua. He was responsible for a number of superb medals made for Francesco II of Mantua, 1466-1519 (see I Gonzaga, Moneta Arte Storia, Milan 1995, pp. 412-414, V.24-28), but was at the mint of Hall in Tyrol from March through June 1506. The portrait on this coin is, in fact, one of the finest of all portrayals of Maximilian I and can only be described as a masterpiece of Renaissance engraving; it shows a skill in bringing out character and emotion that is far and above the abilities of the local engravers who produced dies for the Emperor’s coinage at Hall, St. Veit and elsewhere (even the famous Ulrich Ursentaler). This coin must have been produced in very small numbers for presentation purposes only: today it is a coin of great rarity and importance.