Cologne 1622 thaler Dav-5166
This specimen was lot 4277 in Künker sale 441 (Osnabrück, March 2026), where it sold for €2,800 (about US$3,852 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"KÖLN, STADT Reichstaler 1622, mit Titel Ferdinands II. Sehr seltener Jahrgang. Herrliche Patina, leichte Prägeschwäche, fast vorzüglich. Exemplar der Auktion Kölner Münzkabinett 62, Köln 1995, Nr. 656 und der Auktion Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. 436, Frankfurt/Main 2023, Nr. 3280. (city of Cologne, thaler of 1622, struck in the name of Ferdinand II. Very rare date, superb patina, slightly weakly struck, about extremely fine.)"
The archbishopric of Cologne, like Mainz and Trier, was an ecclesiastical state along the river Rhine whose ruler was one of the Electors of the Empire. However, he was expelled from the town of Cologne in the Middle Ages and resided elsewhere. This thaler was issued by the city 1621-27 and cites the emperor, not the archbishop.
Recorded mintage: 6,000.
Specification: 29 g, silver, this specimen 29,04 g.
Catalog reference: KM 325.2, Noss 313 b; Dav-5166.
- 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 Church and City Talers, 1600-1700, Galesburg, IL, 1967.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Frühjahrs-Auktion 441: Orders and Decorations from the Estate of Wilhelm, Duke of Bavaria (1752–1837), among others | Coins and Medals from the Middle Ages and Modern times, particularly Denmark, Habsburg, Norway, and Saxony, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2026.
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