1681 Brunswick-Lüneburg 4 Mariengroschen

brg5658

I recently acquired this beautiful little silver minor from @Bob13 on these forums. It arrived yesterday; the luster is booming in hand and the fields are nearly prooflike. There are some signs of filled dies and the beginnings of a die crack above the rearing horse.

For those of you who like history, this little coin was issued by Ernest August, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1661-1692) and after this coin was issued, later the Elector-designate of Hanover. If you follow British lineage at all, Ernest August was the father of the eventual George I of Great Britain. He was married to Sophia of the Palatinate - an heir through the Stuart line of the British royal family. All of the Hanover line of British Regents from George I through Queen Victoria were descendants of Ernest August.

As for the coin - it is a two year type (1681 and 1686). The Mariengroschen is a division unit of the Hanover Thaler. There were 36 Mariengroschen to the Thaler - thus this coin had a value of 1/9 of a Thaler.

The legends read:

SOLA BONA QUAE HONESTA - The only good things are those which are honorable.

ERN:AUG.D.G.EP:OSN.D.B.&L. - Ernest Augustus, by the grace of God, Bishop of Osnabrück, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg.

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Feel free to guess the grade, if you so desire.

Stella

Looks like a lovely little coin! Congratulations on your purchase.

Bob13

Glad it found a nice home!

Boosibri

Nice coin

291fifth

Very eye-appealing. I'd say AU55.

worldcoinguy

Very nice! I would wager MS-63.

amwldcoin

I'm thinking 65-66!

brg5658

Clearly a difficult little coin to grade from photos. I agree with the NGC grade, about as close to a gem little coin as you can get.

There is no rub on the horse or beads. There is some die degradation (rust) on the body of the horse, and the planchet is not completely struck up on the very highest of areas that some people may perceive as wear in photos. The die had the beginnings of a crack just above the horse body. The coin has booming luster, with some nice toning in the hidden areas. This coin was likely stored in an envelope or coin cabinet for a very long time. The centering on this is superb for the era (they come very often off-center, dentils missing on one side, etc.). I'm very happy to add this ~340 year old coin to my collection.

asheland

Very cool!