CNG 108, Lot: 930. Estimate $3000. Sold for $6253. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GERMANY, Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (Herzogtum). Rudolf August. 1666-1704. AR 3 Taler (72mm, 12h). Zellerfeld mint; Rudolf Bornemann, mintmaster. Dated 1685 RB. Coat-of-arms surmounted by five elaborately plumed coats-of-arms / Fortuna, head right, playing lute and standing on snail with one foot; in background, city view of Lautenthal, mountain mine works to right; in sky, radiant sun to left, radiant name of God in Hebrew to right. Welter 1834 ; Davenport 111b; KM 564. In NGC encapsulation, 4212835-003, graded AU 55. Toned.

From the Jonathan K. Kern Collection.

Lautenthal, a town in the Harz Mountains of modern central Germany, was the site of a famous silver mine called “Lautenthal’s Luck.” The town was founded in 1538 when iron ore was discovered in the area. After further exploration, the town developed into a successful silver mining operation. These multiple talers, which depict Lautenthal and its mine works in careful detail, reveal the mine’s importance to the dukes of Brunswick as a source of great wealth. The young woman on the reverse, standing before a mountain valley scene, is likely an allegorical depiction of the goddess Fortuna. She plays a lute (“Laute” in German) in her role as the personification of the town of Lautenthal.

The dukes of Brunswick probably minted these large coins to serve as an emergency fund when Lautenthal’s rate of production was very high. Landowners in the duchy were required to purchase the talers according to their means. If the duke needed funding for a war or other emergency, he could ask for the coins to be returned. In exchange, the landowners would receive coins of lower silver purity.