Newp - Speyer (German States) taler

worldcoinguy

Excited about a new addition from Heritage auction today.

1770 Speyer Taler
NGC MS-63+
Issue is a one year type with a mintage of 5,000 pieces struck to celebrate the accession of the Bishop August Philip of Limburg Stirum after the death of Franz Christoph of Hutten zu Stolzenberg.

The piece will complement a 1/2 taler and medal with the same date.

1770 Speyer 1/2 Taler
PCGS AU-58
5,000 total mintage

1770 Speyer Sede Vacante Medal
NGC MS-61
46mm, 36.42 g, By A. Schäffer. Haas 560; Zepernick 252. Reported 300 total minted.

Speyer is a small town of 50,000 located in Rhineland-Palatinate Germany (SW region) with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the Rhine river, Speyer is one of Germany's oldest cities, dating to 10 BC with the establishment of a Roman camp. There is mention of a bishop dating back to 346. The Romanesque style Speyer Cathedral, with its foundation started in 1030, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tombs of eight Holy Roman Emperors and German kings are found beneath the high altar.

Speyer cathedral:

harasha

A magnificent suite!

mkman123

beautiful!!! Love it

Zohar

Congrats on the newp!

Bob13

Great coins - you got sun faces, wildmen, Athena (?), flying cherubs, bees I think!

Kinda fun to look at the differences between half and full taler.

EVillageProwler

Congrats on your newp, B. Nice coins all. And nice write up. Reminds me of Z's old write ups back when he was busier but more motivated.

Zohar

@EVillageProwler said:
Congrats on your newp, B. Nice coins all. And nice write up. Reminds me of Z's old write ups back when he was busier but more motivated.

There is very little interest in Talers on this forum, hence the lack of write ups.

Bob13

@Zohar - Really appreciate your posts (and your website). I’m sure others do too. I’ll also add that even if what you collect might be different than many on the forum, how you collect and evaluate purchases is very helpful.

By the way, same goes for EVP, worldcoinguy and many others.

Thanks,
Bob

worldcoinguy

Many thanks all. I have to agree with EVP and Bob; Zohar's write ups are as much an attraction as the pictures. I like seeing a bit of historical context - Z's writeups on the talers from the noble houses in particular were quite interesting to me.

@Bob - This designer sure worked in quite a bit of symbolism. I suppose if Speyer is going to produce one taler per century, you might as well pack as much design as possible onto the piece. I wonder if the cherub on the left is supposed to be holding the scales of justice, or is that me seeing the symbolism through an American viewpoint?

EVillageProwler

@worldcoinguy - read the obverse legend; it suggests that the scales are Scales of Justice, which is a Roman notion before it became American.