Brunswick-Luneburg-Celle 1617 thaler Dav-6431
This specimen was lot 605 in Künker sale 293 (Osnabrück, Germany, July 2017), where it sold for €260 (about US$351 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRAUNSCHWEIG UND LÜNEBURG, BRAUNSCHWEIG-WOLFENBÜTTEL, HERZOGTUM Christian, Bischof von Minden, 1611-1633. Reichstaler 1617, Clausthal. Sehr schön. (duchies of Brunswick-Luneburg and Brunswick Wolfenbuttel, Christian, bishop of Minden, 1611-33, thaler of 1617, Clausthal mint. Very 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 issue is fairly common for a one year type. Brunswick-Luneburg-Celle lapsed in 1705 on the death of the last duke and was merged with Brunswick-Luneburg-Calenberg-Hannover.
Reported Mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver.
Catalog reference: KM 9.3, Dav-6431; 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 Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Katalog 293: Münzen aus Mittelalter und Neuzeit u. a. die westfälischen Privatsammlungen Werner Bröker und Bernd Terletzki, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2017.
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