Erich Götz was born in Germany’s Upper Palatinate (located in the north-eastern part of Bavaria) in 1947. In addition to his apprenticeship as an export merchant, he studied several foreign languages. He started his professional career in 1970 and worked as an export manager in the kaolin industry for thirteen years before becoming self-employed and started his own company. Since then, he has refined and traded minerals - conducting business in over 60 countries until the end of 2020. Erich Götz passed away on 26 April 2021. He was married; his three children are today heading the company he once founded.
Erich Götz expressed his closeness to his home region, and his numismatic interest in particular, in his book “Die Münzprägung der Oberpfalz. Geschichte und Katalog“ (“Minting of Coins in Upper Palatinate. History and Catalogue“), which was published in Nuremberg in 1992 and is still regarded as a standard reference for the Upper Palatinate region. This book offers a comprehensive and detailed presentation of the coinage from the Upper Palatinate mints, from the mid-14th century to the Kipper coinage of the early 17th century.
This focus is also reflected in the numismatic collection of Erich Götz that is now coming up for auction, which was assembled during his plus 40 years of active collecting.
The collection, which begins with coins minted in the 10th century, includes numerous coins from the Regensburg mint, issued by both the Bavarian dukes and the Holy Roman Emperors. Among these are numerous rarities, such as a denarius of Duke Eberhard and coins from the subsidiary mints at Cham and Nabburg, including some issues minted for Duke Hezilo of Schweinfurt.
The collection continues with a wide variety of coins struck at mints in the Upper Palatinate – the subject Götz covers in his book. It includes Talers and Kreuzers, as well as some highly interesting and rare Goldgulden. Alongside many variants from Amberg, there are also coins from Neumarkt and Kemnath.
The collection is concluded by numerous medals, mostly surrounding the thematic focus of the coins from Bavaria and the Palatinate.
Erich Götz compiled his collection with great expertise and much attention to detail. In addition to the central area of his interest of collecting outlined above, the collection also includes coins from adjoining territories and related thematic areas, amongst which are numerous interesting variants and rarities.
We thank the Götz family for entrusting this collection to us, and we hope you enjoy browsing through the two catalogues featuring items from the collection of Erich Götz.
