Brunswick-Luneburg-Celle 1630-HS thaler Dav-6475
This specimen was lot 5123 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €280 (about US$362 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRAUNSCHWEIG-LÜNEBURG-CELLE, FÜRSTENTUM. Christian, Bischof von Minden, 1611-1633. Reichstaler 1630, Clausthal. (falsche Angabe der Vorderseitenumschrift); Sehr schön-vorzüglich. (duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle, Christian, bishop of Minden, 1611-33, thaler of 1630, Clausthal mint. 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 is another of the innumerable bust thalers issued by Christian in 1629-33 and is fairly common. 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 29.03 g.
Catalog reference: KM 90, Dav-6475 (wrong obverse legend in description); Welter 924.
- 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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