The New York Sale
Auction 49 15 Jan 2020
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Saxony (German State)
Saxony. Friedrich August I (1694-1733). Silver Vicariat Taler, 1711. King on horseback right, with shield below. Rev. Two sets of crowns and scepters on tables. Below in wreath inscription (Dav 2655; KM 803; Schnee 1011). In PCGS holder graded MS 62, attractively toned. Value $1,000 - UP
The present coin is known as a vicariat thaler because it was struck between the death of Josef I on April 17, 1711 and the election of Carl VI as his imperial successor on October 12, 1711. During this period, Freidrich August I, served as Imperial Vicar. Ever since the basic constitution of the Holy Roman Empire was codified by the Golden Bull of 1356, the Duke and Elector of Saxony and the Count Palatine of the Rhine were appointed Imperial Vicars who would take up the administration of the Empire in the interregnum that inevitably followed the deaths of Emperors when their successors had not already been chosen. As Duke and Elector of Saxony and Imperial Vicar, Friedrich August I ruled with the powers of the Emperor in the northern territories of the Holy Roman Empire for 5 months and 25 days while his counterpart, Johann Wilhelm II, Count Palatine of the Rhine ruled in the south.
On the obverse Friedrich August I is depicted wearing a crown and charging on horseback while on the reverse he is named in Latin as King Elector. These royal features refer to the fact that at the same time that he served as Duke and Elector of Saxony and as Imperial Vicar within the Holy Roman Empire, he also ruled in his own right as King of the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania (1697-1706 and 1709-1733) (as Augustus II). The arms of the commonwealth appear below his horse. Likewise, the treatment of his horse's mane and the animal skin that adorns it seems to be intended to recall the appearance of the mounts of the famous Polish hussars-the elite cavalry of Poland-Lithuania that played a decisive role in defending the commonwealth against the Ottoman Turks as well as the Kingdom of Sweden and the Tsardom of Russia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The reverse type advertises the two offices of King and Elector held by Friedrich August I. The throne and robe on the left is topped by a royal crown and scepter while those on the right are topped by the ducal bonnet and sword of the Electors of Saxony. They seem to be shown set aside as if to indicate that Friederich August I has set aside his personal concerns in his own kingdom and electorate in order to take up the role of Imperial Vicar and shoulder the problems of the Empire as a whole until the election of the new Holy Roman Emperor.
Saxony. Friedrich August I (1694-1733). Silver Vicariat Taler, 1711. King on horseback right, with shield below. Rev. Two sets of crowns and scepters on tables. Below in wreath inscription (Dav 2655; KM 803; Schnee 1011). In PCGS holder graded MS 62, attractively toned. Value $1,000 - UP
The present coin is known as a vicariat thaler because it was struck between the death of Josef I on April 17, 1711 and the election of Carl VI as his imperial successor on October 12, 1711. During this period, Freidrich August I, served as Imperial Vicar. Ever since the basic constitution of the Holy Roman Empire was codified by the Golden Bull of 1356, the Duke and Elector of Saxony and the Count Palatine of the Rhine were appointed Imperial Vicars who would take up the administration of the Empire in the interregnum that inevitably followed the deaths of Emperors when their successors had not already been chosen. As Duke and Elector of Saxony and Imperial Vicar, Friedrich August I ruled with the powers of the Emperor in the northern territories of the Holy Roman Empire for 5 months and 25 days while his counterpart, Johann Wilhelm II, Count Palatine of the Rhine ruled in the south.
On the obverse Friedrich August I is depicted wearing a crown and charging on horseback while on the reverse he is named in Latin as King Elector. These royal features refer to the fact that at the same time that he served as Duke and Elector of Saxony and as Imperial Vicar within the Holy Roman Empire, he also ruled in his own right as King of the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania (1697-1706 and 1709-1733) (as Augustus II). The arms of the commonwealth appear below his horse. Likewise, the treatment of his horse's mane and the animal skin that adorns it seems to be intended to recall the appearance of the mounts of the famous Polish hussars-the elite cavalry of Poland-Lithuania that played a decisive role in defending the commonwealth against the Ottoman Turks as well as the Kingdom of Sweden and the Tsardom of Russia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The reverse type advertises the two offices of King and Elector held by Friedrich August I. The throne and robe on the left is topped by a royal crown and scepter while those on the right are topped by the ducal bonnet and sword of the Electors of Saxony. They seem to be shown set aside as if to indicate that Friederich August I has set aside his personal concerns in his own kingdom and electorate in order to take up the role of Imperial Vicar and shoulder the problems of the Empire as a whole until the election of the new Holy Roman Emperor.