The New York Sale
Auction 49 15 Jan 2020
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Brunswick-Lüneburg (German State)
Brunswick-Lüneburg. Christian Ludwig (1648-1665). Silver 2 Taler, 1664-LW. In center a crowned monogram CL within wreath, surrounded by fourteen shields, legend and date. Rev. Hand in clouds holding wreath above leaping horse above mining scene (Dav LS189; KM 252.5). In PCGS holder graded AU 58, sharply struck example with lovely old cabinet tone and original mint luster. Value $2,000 - UP
In 1641, Georg, the Hanoverian Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg in Lower Saxony suddenly died. Following a custom of succession established in 1635, the Principality of Lüneberg was inherited by his brother, Freidrich IV, while the smaller Principality of Calenberg. When Freidrich IV died seven years later, Christian Ludwig received territory of and his son Christian Ludwig. Freidrich inherited Lüneburg and assumed the ducal title while Christian Ludwig inherited Lüneberg, but gave Calenberg to his younger brother, Georg Wilhelm in appanage. Christian Ludwig was a Renaissance man who championed the development of German as a scholarly and literary language. To this end, he joined the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft ("Fruitbearing Society") in 1642. This organization, founded in 1617, consisted of more than 200 members of the German nobility united with scholars to standardize and increase the use of the German vernacular.
The obverse type of this exceptional thaler advertises the supposed divine sanction for the rule of Christian Ludwig as Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg of the House of Hanover. According to heraldic tradition, a black horse was first used as the shield emblem of Widukind, the last king of the pagan Saxons in the eighth century, but the horse was repainted white after his conversion to Christianity. This white horse, known in German as the Sachenross ("Saxon charger") thenceforth became an emblem of Saxony. It was subsequently adopted as the heraldic blazon of the House of Hanover.
The mining scene refers to the important mining interests of the Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Upper Harz region of Saxony. In the sixteenth century, Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1568-1589) had strongly encouraged silver shaft-mining in the region as did his successors, who reaped the reward of a steady flow of silver into their coffers. The present thaler was probably struck from silver obtained from the Upper Harz as some 40-50% of all German silver produced between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries is estimated to have come from this region.
Ex Craig Whitford sale, NDB Bank Auction III, Lot 5738.
Brunswick-Lüneburg. Christian Ludwig (1648-1665). Silver 2 Taler, 1664-LW. In center a crowned monogram CL within wreath, surrounded by fourteen shields, legend and date. Rev. Hand in clouds holding wreath above leaping horse above mining scene (Dav LS189; KM 252.5). In PCGS holder graded AU 58, sharply struck example with lovely old cabinet tone and original mint luster. Value $2,000 - UP
In 1641, Georg, the Hanoverian Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg in Lower Saxony suddenly died. Following a custom of succession established in 1635, the Principality of Lüneberg was inherited by his brother, Freidrich IV, while the smaller Principality of Calenberg. When Freidrich IV died seven years later, Christian Ludwig received territory of and his son Christian Ludwig. Freidrich inherited Lüneburg and assumed the ducal title while Christian Ludwig inherited Lüneberg, but gave Calenberg to his younger brother, Georg Wilhelm in appanage. Christian Ludwig was a Renaissance man who championed the development of German as a scholarly and literary language. To this end, he joined the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft ("Fruitbearing Society") in 1642. This organization, founded in 1617, consisted of more than 200 members of the German nobility united with scholars to standardize and increase the use of the German vernacular.
The obverse type of this exceptional thaler advertises the supposed divine sanction for the rule of Christian Ludwig as Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg of the House of Hanover. According to heraldic tradition, a black horse was first used as the shield emblem of Widukind, the last king of the pagan Saxons in the eighth century, but the horse was repainted white after his conversion to Christianity. This white horse, known in German as the Sachenross ("Saxon charger") thenceforth became an emblem of Saxony. It was subsequently adopted as the heraldic blazon of the House of Hanover.
The mining scene refers to the important mining interests of the Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Upper Harz region of Saxony. In the sixteenth century, Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1568-1589) had strongly encouraged silver shaft-mining in the region as did his successors, who reaped the reward of a steady flow of silver into their coffers. The present thaler was probably struck from silver obtained from the Upper Harz as some 40-50% of all German silver produced between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries is estimated to have come from this region.
Ex Craig Whitford sale, NDB Bank Auction III, Lot 5738.