17th Century Coinage – Auction Houses

Auction Houses for 1601-1700 Coins

My last posting elicited a question from one of my regular readers regarding availability and sources for purchasing 17th Century Ducats and Thalers. I posted a comment in reply, but thougth this question deserved a full posting all it's own.

Like I said in my last posting, this is why dealer and auction houses should place image ads in our catalogs, especially for the ealier time periods, where one of our books will be used for several years before a new edition emerges.

Many collectors of modern coins assume that earlier coinage is all very rare, but this is not always the case. There are many minor coins and even several crown sized types which are quite reasonable in price and relatively common in the market. Collecting 17th Century coinage is within the reach of most any coin collector. The key is to know the best sources.

Many coin dealers offer the more common coins of the 1601-1700 period. One of the most friendly and helpful of them is Allen G. Berman. Allen is always willing to talk and he offers excellent coins at reasonable prices. Check out his website and see for yourself or see his regular ads in World Coin News.

For more expensive high end coins of 1601-1700 consider working with M. Louis Teller Numismatic Company. Teller handles some of the finest coins you can acquire. You will always see his ad on the back cover of World Coin News or check out thier website.

Of course, once you have become accustomed to whatever 17th Century area you have chosen to collect, you will want to begin looking at coin auctions. There are many auction houses here in the U.S. which occasionally offer coins from 1601-1700. Some of the best include: Heritage Galleries, Stack's and Ponterio & Associates.

For the most comprehensive collections of European coins from the 17th Century you will want to seek out auction catalogs from several of the main European firms. These auction houses always seem to be at the center of the market for Ducats, Thalers and their multiples:
Fritz Rudolf Kunker GmbH & Co.KG, Gorny & Mosch Giessener Munzhandlung GmbH, Hess-Divo AG, UBS and Munzenhandlung Harald Moller GmbH.

Don't shy away, once you get going, you will find that the 17th Century offers a great deal for the curious coin collector.