★ Important Double Thaler-Ex H.D. Rauch ★

Transilvania. Principality. Sigismund (Zsigmond) Báthory. Third reign, 1601-1602. Brassó (Kronstadt / Brașov) Mint. 1602 AR Double Thaler or Douppelklippe (53mm, 57,01 g); DEO: VINDICI:PATRIAE 16-02 tree with roots inside a coin like circle with a description: MONETA:CIVITATIS *CORONENSIS*. Crowned double-headed eagle facing with wings spread; crowned coat-of-arms on breast SIGIS•TRANS•ET• - SAC•ROM•IMP •PRIN• around. Dav. 4681; HuszS. 156. Minor places of flatness on the edge, otherwise almost extremely fine. Exceedingly Rare ex Auktionshaus H.D. Rauch GmbH, Auction 109, (11 November 2019) Lot number: 2449 (there dated 1601)
ESTIMATED: 20 000 EUR.

After several abdications before,
on 9 February 1600 Sigismund announced that he was ready to return to Transylvania. Moses Székely, a commander-in-chief during Michael the Brave's campaign against Moldavia in May, deserted Michael and came to Poland to meet Sigismund.The elected leader of the Transylvanian noblemen, István Csáky, sought assistance from Rudolph II's military commander, Giorgio Basta, against Michael. Basta invaded Transylvania and expelled Michael the Brave in September. Basta's unpaid soldiers regularly pillaged the principality, while Ottoman and Tatar marauders made frequent incursions across the frontiers. Sigismund returned to Transylvania across Moldavia at the head of a Polish army on 24 March 1601. The Diet proclaimed him prince in Kolozsvár on 3 April. Basta and Michael the Brave invaded Transylvania in summer. They routed Sigismund's army in the Battle of Goroszló on 3 August 1601. After the battle, Sigismund fled to Moldavia, but he returned on 6 September. The sultan's envoy confirmed Sigismund's position as Prince of Transylvania in Brassó (now Brașov) on 2 October. At the head of an army which also included Ottoman and Tatar soldiers, Sigismund expanded his rule over most regions of the principality, but he could not capture Kolozsvár in late November. He started new negotiations with Basta over his abdication in March 1602, because he did not trust his own supporters. He referred to them as "intoxicated and brutish sons of a bitch" and asked István Csáky to help him to leave their camp on 2 July. He left Transylvania for the last time on 26 July 1602.