Brunswick-Luneburg-Celle 1617-HL thaler Dav-6430
This specimen was lot 5111 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €1,500 (about US$1,938 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRAUNSCHWEIG-LÜNEBURG-CELLE, FÜRSTENTUM. Christian, Bischof von Minden, 1611-1633. Reichstaler 1617, Clausthal. Von großer Seltenheit. Feine Patina, kl. Stempelfehler, sehr schön-vorzüglich. (duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle, Christian, bishop of Minden, 1611-33, thaler of 1617, Clausthal mint. Extremely rare, fine patina, minor die cracks, very fine to extremely fine.)"
The bishopric of Minden was established in Carolingian times but was converted to Lutheranism in 1554. Christian was the younger brother of the duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle and was bishop 1599-1625 and duke 1611-33 and attempted to keep the Thirty Years War away from his domain. He was succeeded in Minden by Francis of Wartenberg, a Catholic, but the Treaty of Westphalia converted the diocese to a secular principality and awarded it in 1648 to the elector of Brandenburg. His younger brother, Augustus, erstwhile bishop of Ratzeburg, succeeded to the duchy. The Hohenzollerns continued to operate the mint at Minden but those issues are collected as part of the Brandenburg and Prussian series. This one year type is scarce to rare. Brunswick-Luneburg-Celle lapsed in 1705 on the death of the last duke and was merged with Brunswick-Luneburg-Calenberg-Hannover.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 28.75 g.
Catalog reference: KM 9.1, Dav-6430 (this example); Welter 921.
- 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., German Secular Talers, 1600-1700, Frankfurt: Numismatischer Verlag, 1976.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 386: Brakteaten | Mainz | Bibliothek Prof. Dr. Niklot Klüßendorf | Mittelalter und Neuzeit | Goldprägungen | Deutsche Münzen ab 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2023.
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