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Auction: 23006 - The Official COINEX Auction at Spink
Lot: 645

The Wilhelm Hüffer (1821-1895) Collection | NGC MS63 | German States, Osnabruck, 'Sede Vacante' Thaler, 1698, Hanover, CAPITULUM CATHEDRALE OSNABRUGENSE SEDE VACANTE., Saint Peter holding keys and book, rev. ORLEFVR INFENEBRIS LVX FVA EF FENEBRCE FVA ERVNF SICVF MERIDIES ISALA 58, monastery of Getrudenberg, banner and stars above, edge obliquely milled, 29.16g, 12h (Kennepohl 307a; Zepernick 233; Dav. 5674), a most handsomely lustrous and old grey-toned surfaces, extremely fine and much as issued, in NGC holder, graded MS63 (Cert. #6767909-013) [*Second Finest Certified* / 1 Finer]

Provenance

The Wilhelm Hüffer (1821-1895) Collection of European Coins and Medals

with his envelope



https://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/6767909-013/63/



This 1698 issue commemorates the death of Prince-Bishop Ernst Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg, father of George Louis, who became George I of Great Britain.



Due to having three older brothers, Ernest did not expect to succeed the reign of any principalities and therefore him and his wife decided to settle into their modest life, not knowing that she would eventually become heiress to the British throne due to her English heritage (she was the granddaughter of King James I of England). In 1662 Ernest was chosen to become 'secular bishop' of Osnabrück and when his brother Johann Friedrich died in 1679, he took over the dukedom of Lüneburg-Calenberg, eventually he would inherit all territories from the Lüneburg line.



In 1683, the Duke instituted primogeniture so that his territory wouldn't be split between his sons on his death, rather that everything would go to the oldest son, George. He participated in the Great Turkish War on the side of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and as a result was made Prince-elector.



Prince-Bishop Ernst Augustus died of severe illness at Herrenhaus Palace in Hanover in 1698, closely tended to by his wife. She was declared the heir to the British throne only three years later in 1701 but she died in the park of her beloved Herrenhaus, and therefore it would be their son George who would become the first of the Hanover line to take the British throne, after the death of Queen Anne in 1714.



The reverse of this commemorative thaler displays a chronogram in which specific letters can be rearranged in order to interpret a particular date. There was a low reported mintage of such issues, with only 1,381 recorded to have been struck.

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Sold for
£3,500

Starting price
£1000