Bavaria 1657 thaler Dav-6097
This specimen was lot 594 in Stacks-Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2015), where it sold for $7,050. The catalog description[1] noted, "GERMANY. Bavaria. Taler, 1657. Munich Mint. Ferdinand Maria (1651-1679). NGC MS-62. VERY RARE. Finest certified example. Depiction of Madonna seated with child on the left flanked by an elector to the right. Mottled toning with underlying luster and very crisp details. Sharply struck and exceptional quality for this elusive issue. From the Rockaway Collection." 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 (KM 297), a pair of thalers (KM 299, KM 300 (shown here)) and a ducat (KM 302). This was the first issue of thalers since 1643 and the last until 1694.
Recorded mintage: unknown but rare.
Specification: silver.
Catalog reference: Dav-6097; KM-300.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Davenport, John S., German Secular Talers, 1600-1700, Frankfurt: Numismatischer Verlag, 1976.
- [1]Ponterio, Richard, The January 2015 NYINC Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, Featuring the John W. Adams and Ray Czabor Collections, Irvine, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2014.
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