Christian IV, silver strike of unknown / projected gold coin 1626, Breslau (?), H - , S - , LEB - , Sieg 2018, s. 133, 2.88 g - beautiful, nice toned sepcimen
This unique and enigmatic roller-embossed type has, since its appearance in the mid-1970s, when it was included in Sieg's catalogue: “Coins of Denmark from the Middle Ages to the Present”, p. 18 (with a then somewhat controversial valuation price of DKK 50,000,-), attracted great attention among collectors and researchers. The year 1626 naturally points to Christian IV's participation in the Battle of Lutter am Barenberg, where the Protestant army under the leadership of the Danish king and general Forck suffered a decisive defeat to the Catholic army under Tilly and Wallenstein, and the motif also shows the king as a commander - riding a fiery horse and with a marshal's baton in his right hand. Below the horse are various troop movements and to the right, among other things, a cannon. A very similar - and also probably unique - minting from the Thirty Years' War is Hans Rieger's minting from 1634 of the Battle of Nördlingen. Here too, a general is seen - in this case Emperor Ferdinand - on a prancing horse with a city prospectus in the background, Hess-Divo 300, 1098. Among the gold coins of this period, a parallel is seen in Archduke Ferdinand Karl's Double Ducat from Hall minted in 1642, Friedberg 247, Moser-Tursky, “Die Münzstätte Hall in Tirol, 1477–1665”, no. 247.
Litterature: Jørgen Sømod, Hvid - Skilling - Øre, 2011, page 95
Ex. Jørgen Sømod (BR 881, 2018, lot 36; Gitta Kastner auction 7, lot. 627 (depicted), Munich, 1975
EF