Bavaria 1657 1/3 thaler
This specimen was lot 5307 in Künker sale 354 (Osnabrück, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €7,500 (about US$10,438 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BAYERN, HERZOGTUM, SEIT 1623 KURFÜRSTENTUM, Ferdinand Maria, 1651-1679. 1/3 Taler 1657, München, auf das Vikariat. Von größter Seltenheit. Feine Tönung, winz. Schrötlingsfehler, sehr schön-vorzüglich. (Germany, electorate of Bavaria, Ferdinand Maria, 1651-79, one-third thaler of 1657, Munich mint, on the vicariat. Extremely rare, fine toning, minor planchet marks, very fine to extremely fine.)"
In 1657, emperor Ferdinand III died. While he was being buried and his successor Leopold I was elected and crowned, Ferdinand Maria was vicar of the empire, an office he shared with the elector of Saxony. We presume that the Hapsburgs saw to it that Ferdinand Maria's powers were purely ceremonial. This particular interregnum lasted 15 months and was the longest between the creation of the office by the Golden Bull and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1802. To mark the occasion, he issued a pair of 1/9 thalers (KM 294, KM 295), 1/6 thaler (KM 295), ⅓ thaler (shown here), a pair of thalers (KM 299, KM 300) and a ducat (KM 302). All are rare.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 9.75 g, silver, this specimen 9,49 g.
Catalog reference: KM 297, Hahn 178.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Künker Auktion 354: Munzen und Medaillen aus Mittelalter und Neuzeit u. a. Braunschweig-Luneburg. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2021.
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