Brunswick-Luneburg-Calenberg 1671-LW 1-1/2 thaler Dav-LS204
This specimen was lot 2129 in Künker Auction 425 (Osnabrück, July 2025), where it sold for €2,000 (about US$2,832 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"DEUTSCHE MÜNZEN UND MEDAILLEN · BRAUNSCHWEIG-CALENBERG-HANNOVER, AB 1692 KURFÜRSTENTUM HANNOVER, AB 1815 KÖNIGREICH HANNOVER Johann Friedrich, 1665-1679. Löser zu 1 1/2 Reichstalern 1671, Clausthal. Ausbeute der Harzer Gruben. Mit Wertpunze. Feine Patina, sehr schön-vorzüglich. Exemplar der Auktion Fritz Rudolf Künker 394, Osnabrück 2023, Nr. 4946. Mit altem Unterlagszettel. (Germany, duchy of Brunswick-Luneburg-Calenberg, John Frederick, 1665-79, 1½ thaler of 1671, Clausthal mint, for the Harzer mine, with value punched in. Fine patina, very fine to extremely fine, with old documentation sheet.)"
The dies were also used to make double and triple thalers, which is why the denomination had to be punched in. Similar coins were struck in 1670 and 1672. John Frederick shocked his family by converting to Catholicism in 1651. He died in 1679, leaving only daughters, and was succeeded by his youngest brother Ernst Augustus.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 43.3 g, silver.
Catalog reference: KM 131.2, Dav-LS204; Duve 2; Müseler 10.4.2/20; Welter 1667; Preussag Collection (Auktion London Coin Galleries/Künker 1) 192; Kluge (Slg. Preussag) 16.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Davenport, John S., Large Size Silver Coins of the World, 16th-19th Centuries, 3rd Ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1991.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 425: Gold coins from the Medieval and Modern Times, from the Mohr family collection, e.g. | Silver coins, e.g. highlights of medallic art | German coins after 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2025.
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