By Henrik Berndt – Senior Numismatist, Stack’s Bowers Galleries ……
It has long been customary to put patron saints on coins, and so it was for the German City of Wismar. Situated on the German Baltic coast, tucked in behind the small island of Poel, Wismar was founded in 1226. As a part of the powerful Hanseatic League, it grew rich, and on several occasions was conquered by German states and also by Sweden.
Wismar fell under Swedish control at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 that ended the Thirty Years’ War. It remained under Swedish rule until 1803, when the city was ceded to Mecklenburg-Schwerin for 1,258,000 Riksdalers.
During the time, Wismar retained its minting rights from the Holy Roman Emperor, and the city magistrate jealously guarded those rights. This is why the coins minted in Wismar under Swedish rule, with very few exceptions, show the name of the emperor and not the Swedish ruler.
One such coin is the amazing Wismar Taler of 1673, which is offered by Stack’s Bowers Galleries in the L.E. Bruun Part II sale in Zürich on March 15, 2025. The name and double-headed eagle of the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold, takes up the entire reverse of the coin. The obverse is no less fascinating, with a large depiction of the City Patron, St. Lawrence (Laurentius or Lars). Lawrence holds a gridiron in his left hand as a brutal reminder of his martyrdom. He was roasted in 258 AD in Rome on a giant gridiron – and his alleged cheerful remarks about being done on one side made him the patron saint of chefs, cooks, and comedians.
Under the Saint are the city arms. The shield is divided vertically with striped fields on the right and the left side of a crowned bull on the right. Striding the city arms are the initials “H” and “R” for Hans Ridder, mintmaster in Wismar from 1670 to 1674.
A rare coin, this NGC AU53 Wismar Taler comes on the marked very infrequently, and this specimen is quite possibly the best offered in decades.
To view all lots in the March 2025 L.E. Bruun Part II sale, visit StacksBowers.com.
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