1/24 Thaler Erfurt

Holy Roman Empire, Erfurt (Free Imperial City), AR 1/24 thaler (groschen, 23mm, 1.49gm, 10h), mintmaster Johann Schneider (aka Weissmantel). O: ·MON ARG CIVITA ERFFOR· 16· ZZ· ("New silver coinage of the city of Erfurt, 1622"). Helmeted wheel arms with scrolls; at left, alchemical symbol for sulfur; at right, alchemical symbol for mercury; above, second wheel. R: +NACH DEN ALTEN SCHROT V. KORN ("Of standard weight and fineness"). Wheel arms in ornamented shield; in field above, Z - 4. KM#40. Very Fine, dark tone.

The alchemical symbols on this coin were described in 1673 by noted alchemist Dr. George Wolfgang Wedel, Professor of Medicine at the University of Jena. Though intriguing, Wedel points out that in 1622, there were two masters of the mint at Erfurt, Ziegler and Weismantel. The latter of these, in order to distinguish his work from that of the former, added the well-known symbols without any intention of attaching to them a hermetic meaning. (Henry Carrington Bolton, 'Contributions of Alchemy to Numismatics', AJN, Vol. XXIV, No. 4, 1890, pp. 72-83).