White Swan Mine Thaler
Charles (German: Karl), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, reigned as Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1735 until his death in March of 1780.
Picture#1 Portrait of Charles William Ferdinand as Hereditary Prince by Pompeo Batoni, 1767
Charles was the eldest son of Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. He fought under Prince Eugene of Savoy against the Ottoman Empire before inheriting the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from his father in 1735. Through his mother, he was first cousins with Empress Maria Theresa.
On the suggestion of his court-preacher, in 1745 he founded the Collegium Carolinum, which is today known as the Technical University of Brunswick. He also hired Gotthold Ephraim Lessing as the librarian for the Bibliotheca Augusta.
Charles attempted to promote the economic development of his state. For example, he founded the Fürstenberg Porcelain Company and installed mandatory fire insurance. However, he did not manage to keep the state finances in check. As a result, in 1773 his eldest son Charles William Ferdinand took over the government.
When the American Revolution began in 1775, Prince Charles saw an opportunity to replenish the duchy's treasury by renting its army to Great Britain. In 1776, Duke Charles signed a treaty with his cousin George III of the United Kingdom to supply troops for service with the British armies in America. 4,000 soldiers were dispatched under General Friedrich Adolf Riedesel. The Brunswick troops fought in General John Burgoyne's army at the Battles of Saratoga, where they were taken prisoner as part of the Convention Army.
Numismatically speaking, there were many great coins issued under his name. I recently acquired a 1752 mining Thaler that appeals to me for multiple reasons. I have been fascinated by the mining Thalers and this one has 2 Wildmen on the reverse. In the 1740s and ’50s, there was a series of beautiful mining Thalers issued. They have a common reverse but each represents a different mine on the obverse. They are all at least scarce and command steep prices in better grades.
Picture#2
Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel 1752 IBH Thaler
Obverse: D.G. CAROLVS - DVX. BRVNSVIC.
- LVNEB. 1752, Arms with Crown (oval shield on
V-shaped base), supported by two Wild Man.
Reverse: CANDIDVS HAEC PROFERT
MONTANVS PRAEMIA CYGNVS, lake with a swan under clouds. Below
in 5 lines - DIE GRVBE WEISSER SCHWAN KAM IN AVSBEVT IM Q: LVCIAE 1732 I.B.H.
Note: White Swan Mining Thaler. Davenport-2157
Ruler: Karl I
Mint: Zellerfeld
Mint Master: Johann Benjamin Hecht
Composition: Silver
Johann Benjamin Hecht was the mint master at Zellerfeld from 1739-1763.
I would love to show you more of these but I have a personal rule that I only share pictures of coins that I actually own. My intention is to pick up more of these as I find them and can afford them. In the meantime, if you have a copy of Davenport check out these: 2167-Bliefeld Mine, 2160-Cronenburg’s Luck Mine, 2164-Goodness of the Lord Mine, 2166-Rainbow Mine, 2168-King Karl Mine, 2169-Blessing of God Mine. You can also find them all here: http://www.coinfactswiki.com/wiki/Silver_crowns_by_Davenport_number#Davenport_2000-2299
If you are interested, here is a link to a writeup I did on an earlier mining thaler follow this link: https://www.money.org/my-ana/viewpost/7595
Sources:
Wikipedia
German Talers by John S. Davenport
Standard Catalog of German Coins 1501-Present 3rd Edition
Comments
Big Nub Numismatics
Level 5
Sweet! I love the swan. I had some knowledge of hessians being contracted by the british, but to have man who helped make that happen on a thaler is excellent.
Stumpy
Level 5
Nice coin! Naturally, I loved the history along with the coin. Thanks for the great blog! Later.
It's Mokie
Level 6
Another beautifully written Blog and a great history lesson. I love the workmanship on that Thaler, It is a gem in any era.
Kepi
Level 6
Great history and research! Nice looking coin ; )
Golfer
Level 5
1752 and you own one. That looks like an awesome coin. Love hearing about that time period. Many fascinating events took place during that time.
TheNumisMaster
Level 5
Thank you for sharing this insight into history! I greatly enjoyed it. Cheers, NM
coinsbygary
Level 5
Very well written and informative blog. You always manage to shine a light on little known bits and pieces of important history. For instance, I did not know that troops from Brunswick were rented out by Great Britain to fight against us in the Revolutionary War.
"SUN"
Level 6
Enjoyed the history lesson
Longstrider
Level 6
Very well done. Great historic blog. I love the Wild Man on these beauties. Thanks.
I. R. Bama
Level 5
So to fill in a few blanks about the mercenaries... Hessians, German mercenaries who were captured were interred in P.O.W. Camps in the Charlottesville, VA. area. Abandoned after the war by Great Britain, they remained here. Known as the shifless ones, because they had no work, they settled in and became four different families with 4 various spellings of the last name Shifflett. The other three families are Shiflett, Shiflet, and Shifflet. They are most common in the Charlottesville and Albemarle county areas and scattered throughout the surrounding counties. They are uncommon in the rest of Virginia and the U. S.
Longstrider
Level 6
Great backstory.
Mike
Level 7
Wonderful I to only write about coins I own. This all happened during the industrial revolution in Europe. The British ,French Spain and the Netherlands. It's amazing to look at this coin and see the detail that's on it. The history I enjoyed I always enjoy that.. I go back to interesting blogs and read the xomments. You will be surprised how much you can learn. Thanks for another great blog.