After taking a break from our quest in viewing the Thaler coinage of the 1,800 German Frie Stadts (Free States) in existence before the German Empire (1871), we return to that quest under the alphabetical listing sequency of the letter "F" which now denotes Fürstenberg-Stühlingen. Fürstenberg-Stühlingen was a County of mediæval Germany, located in the territorial Landgraviate of Stühlingen. It emerged as a partition of Fürstenberg-Stühlingen in 1614. It was partitioned in 1704 between the sons of Count Prosper Ferdinand, with Fürstenberg-Fürstenberg going to Joseph William Ernest, and Fürstenberg-Weitra to his posthumous son, Louis Augustus Egon. Continuing our quest, we have discovered fhat many of the 1,800 Free States were so small they never issued their own coinage, but relied on neighboring states' coinage via commerce, trade and tourism. Fürstenberg-Stühlingen issued some Thaler coinage. Shall we take a look? (coinarchives.com photos) http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1035732&AucID=954&Lot=3603&Val=1d44a966e120c272863d7b45e1df33aa http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1057389&AucID=979&Lot=3185&Val=02db8cb7ba51f224bec7c7adb0e9a261 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1054178&AucID=978&Lot=4299&Val=bf158ba64aa8203ef0ef5cafd0c52a62 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1017266&AucID=938&Lot=1586&Val=3dbf931273928c6ae89b1241941f7ca5 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1013795&AucID=934&Lot=1411&Val=46dca2e558d8af5afc3889f735049ee4 During the reign of Wilhem Fürstenberg (1557-1559) some Mark coins were minted. Here's a photo of a 1557 1/2 Mark: http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=997193&AucID=926&Lot=16&Val=076c3841cb3d165df65d9fc24a2adfd5 Because so little Thaler coinage was issued, let's see some medals produced during Fürstenberg-Stühlingen's existence: http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1033220&AucID=953&Lot=916&Val=dbe0310a2f8dcdf5e3dbcc3bb1b10427 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1013950&AucID=934&Lot=1566&Val=9d38251940e570176aed63420cac8c88 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=1013794&AucID=934&Lot=1410&Val=4b341f82c09dede53374ed4aa2a162b6 http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=997928&AucID=926&Lot=751&Val=3282e111af84e127e5c77059d1a2ba39 Hope you enjoyed the tour into the numismatic history of the Free German State of Fürstenberg-Stühlingen... Clinker
Interesting ... but here it gets tricky. You see, the name Fürstenberg may refer to a country (as in the case of Fürstenberg-Stühlingen) but it can also be a family name. In the latter case, the issuing territory can be an entirely different one. The first coin for example is from the Diocese of Paderborn, issued when Dietrich von Fürstenberg was the bishop and rulerthere. (And to make things more complicated, he is from a different, unrelated, Fürstenberg family.) The half mark is from the Diocese of Riga; the city is the capital of Latvia today. And if a lot description says "Slg. XYZ", that simply means an item, regardless of where it was issued, was part of the XYZ collection. The pieces, especially the Mining Talers, are great though. :thumb: Christian
