Bremen (1511-58) thaler Dav-8974

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Künker sale 400, lot 118
city and archbishopric of Bremen in 1648

This specimen was lot 118 in Künker sale 400 (Berlin, February 2024), where it sold for €11,000 (about US$14,270 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,

"BREMEN, ERZBISTUM, Christoph, Herzog von Braunschweig, 1511-1558. Taler o. J. Bremen. CRISTOF - D : G : S : BRe - Me : eT : Ve - RG : eC : aC Brustbild des Heiligen Petrus v. v. mit Heiligenschein, Schlüssel und Buch//S - WILHaDVS : PRI - M : ePVS : BReMe St. Wilhadus thront v. v. mit Heiligenschein, Krummstab und Kirchenmodell, darunter der Bremer Schlüssel im Wappen. Von größter Seltenheit. Fast sehr schön. (Germany, archbishopric of Bremen, Christopher, duke of Brunswick, 1511-58, undated thaler, Bremen mint. Obverse: facing haloed bust of St. Peter with key and book; reverse: St. Willehad enthroned with halo, crozier and model church, the city keys below. Extremely rare, about very fine.)"

Wikipedia comments, "Willehad or Willihad (Latin: Willehadus/Willihadus); c. 745 AD – 8 November 789) was a Christian missionary and possibly the Bishop of Bremen from 787 AD." We don't know if the bishop was officially canonized. The key is the badge of the city. Christoph of Brunswick was the last Roman Catholic archbishop of Bremen, which converted to Lutheranism in 1522. Conflicts over this and the archbishop's spendthrift habits led to his deposition by the cathedral chapter in 1542. After fleeing to Verden, Christoph appealed to emperor Charles V, who threatened to impose a reforming administrator if the diocese didn't take him back.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: silver, this specimen 27.91 g.

Catalog reference: KM unlisted; Dav-8974, Jungk 151; Welter 344.

Source:

  • Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
  • Davenport, John S., German Talers, 1500-1600, Frankfurt am Main, Numismatischer Verlag P. N. Schulten, 1979.
  • Nicol, N. Douglas, Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of German Coins, 1501-Present, 3rd ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
  • [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 400: Selected löser of the Dukes of Guelph from the Friedrich Popken Collection | Numismatic treasures from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. "multiple portraits" from a Westphalian private collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.

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