Stack's Bowers & Ponterio
August 2016 ANA Auction - Online Sess. D-E 15-16 August 2016
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GERMANY. Bavaria. Augsburg. Box Taler, 1632. UNCIRCULATED.
Swedish Occupation Taler (Dav-4543; KM-A68) of Gustav II, ingeniously crafted into a box containing a love poem and a fine engraving. The host coin is an especially handsome example of a very scarce Taler issued during the Swedish occupation of Augsburg during the Thirty Years War. However, it is a coin with a secret: it has been sliced in half by a master craftsman, hollowed out, and expertly engraved in the interior of the obverse with a four line love poem in what seems to be an older form of Dutch, and wreathed clasped hands over a flaming heart within the reverse. The inner rim is ridged but not threaded so the two halves fit together reasonably well with only a small noticeable opening. The hollowing and engraving was probably performed at a much later time than the coin was struck as the planing lines on the inner surfaces and are very fine and the engraving is quite fine as well placing a reasonable guess at its manufacture around the later eighteenth century. This piece exhibits an extraordinary level of craftsmanship that defies traditional grading. The coin itself would grade a bold and problem-free EXTREMELY FINE, with the interior engraving remaining virtually as made. EXTREMELY FINE.
Estimate: $200.00- $300.00
Swedish Occupation Taler (Dav-4543; KM-A68) of Gustav II, ingeniously crafted into a box containing a love poem and a fine engraving. The host coin is an especially handsome example of a very scarce Taler issued during the Swedish occupation of Augsburg during the Thirty Years War. However, it is a coin with a secret: it has been sliced in half by a master craftsman, hollowed out, and expertly engraved in the interior of the obverse with a four line love poem in what seems to be an older form of Dutch, and wreathed clasped hands over a flaming heart within the reverse. The inner rim is ridged but not threaded so the two halves fit together reasonably well with only a small noticeable opening. The hollowing and engraving was probably performed at a much later time than the coin was struck as the planing lines on the inner surfaces and are very fine and the engraving is quite fine as well placing a reasonable guess at its manufacture around the later eighteenth century. This piece exhibits an extraordinary level of craftsmanship that defies traditional grading. The coin itself would grade a bold and problem-free EXTREMELY FINE, with the interior engraving remaining virtually as made. EXTREMELY FINE.
Estimate: $200.00- $300.00