SWITZERLAND. Basel, Bistum. Bracteate (Silver, 21 mm, 0.41 g, 12 h), fantasy issue by Nicolaus Seeländer (1683-1744) in the style of the 13th century, minted circa 1740. Mitred bust of bishop between two crosiers facing slightly to left. Rev. Incuse of obverse. Borchmann p. 47, 74. Thiel 70. Very rare and of considerable interest for the history of the reception of bracteates. Small scratches, minor deposits and a flan fault on the edge, otherwise, nearly very fine.



Nicolaus Seeländer (1682–1744), a Hanoverian engraver, antiquarian, and numismatist, became notorious for producing deceptive imitations of medieval coins, many of which he presented as genuine historical discoveries.

Rather than forging primarily for ordinary commercial gain, he appears to have used his considerable skill as a die engraver to manufacture pieces that supported his antiquarian theories, filled perceived gaps in the historical record, and enhanced the importance of his own numismatic research. He published and discussed such pieces alongside genuine coins, most notably in his works on medieval German coinage, thereby giving his creations a scholarly provenance that made them particularly difficult for later collectors and researchers to recognize.

As a result, Seeländer's fabrications entered collections and the numismatic literature and continued to complicate the attribution and study of medieval German coins long after his death. Seeländer most likely modeled this fabrication on the bracteates of Heinrich IV of Isny from the second half of the 13th century (cf. Meyer, pl. II, 112 and Wielandt (Basel) 94).