Dated 1484

Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 1755. Estimate $3000.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $6500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

AUSTRIA, Holy Roman Empire. Sigismund. Archduke, 1477-1490. AR Halbguldiner (15.84 g, 7h). Hall mint. Dated 1484. : · SIGISMVnDVS · ARChIDVX · AVSTRIЄ · : (rosette stops), crowned and armored half-length bust right, holding scepter in right hand and sword pommel in left hand / Armored knight on horseback riding right, holding banner in right hand and reins in left; all within a circle of fourteen coats-of-arms. Levinson IV-45a; Frey 261; Schulten 4425. VF, toned, minor edge crack, fields once polished. Very rare; the earliest dated large silver coin of Europe.

From the Leonard O. Greenfield Collection. Ex Sotheby’s New York (24 February 1981), lot 287.

Reigning as the Duke of Tirol and Further Austria, Sigismund was elevated to the Archduke of Austria in 1477. His importance numismatically, however, was in his radical new monetary policy which introduced the first large size silver coin since ancient times. The Guldiner was the ancestor to many major European coin denominations to follow, especially following the precious metal discoveries in the new world. This reform led to Sigismund earning the nickname of der Münzreiche (rich in coin).