One of the rarest semi-talars of the Duchy of Karniów.
A 1586 vintage of the issue of George Frederick, which is likely to appear at auction in Poland for the first time. It also has no listing in the CoinArchives database of auction houses from all over Europe. Described by Edmund Kopicki with a very high rarity grade of R7.
The minting of George Frederick in Karniów, despite its great variety and regularity (it minted denominations ranging from halerza to double-dollars and ducats for more than 40 years), is today among the very rare. Its issues are encountered in commerce sporadically, and some of the vintages are practically not found at all. The most common are thalers, which sell for several thousand zlotys, and the more popular vintages of semi-talars (described by Kopicki as grades R3-R4). We have a thaler issue of this ruler on offer for the first time.
Coin removed from the setting, with traces of mounts on the reverse and rim.
Silver, diameter 34 mm, weight 14.2 g.
Obverse: bust in richly decorated armor, with scepter and sword handle, flanked by date (15-86). In the rim:
[royal apple] MO NO AR GEO FRI MAR BRAN Ż SLE DVC.
Reverse: four columns in the shape of a cross, with the coat of arms centrally, with four shields of arms in the fields. In the rim:
SI DEVS PRONOBIS QVIS CONTRA NOS.