New Shooting Gallery

Sale: Triton X, Lot: 932. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Monday, 8 January 2007.  Sold For $1450. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GERMANY, Sachsen-Albertinische Linie. Johann Georg II. Elector, 1656-1680. AR Taler Klippe (23.38 g). Commemorating the dedication of a new shooting gallery in Dresden. Dated 1678. IOH • GEORG • II • D G • DUX • SAX • IUL • CLIV : & MONT • ELECT •, draped and cuirassed bust right; coats of arms in corners / BEY • EIN : / WEYHUNG • DES • / CHURF : NEUERBAU / TEN • SCHIESHAUSES / IN • DRESDEN • / MDCLXXVIII • / 1 • THAL : in seven lines within wreath; coats of arms in corners. Schnee 959; Merseburger 2408; Davenport 7635; KM 561. Good VF, toned.

Johann Georg II had a keen interest in art and music, and he contributed heavily to Dresden’s rise as a cultural capital of Europe after the devastation of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). For most of his reign, he enjoyed good relations with the powerful Louis XIV of France, but his political activity was otherwise very limited. He organized many festivals and events, as evidenced by this taler, which commemorates the construction of a new gallery for shooting matches.