Halberstadt 1623 thaler Dav-5339
The bishopric of Halberstadt was founded in the early ninth century. In 1479, a Saxon prince, greedy for the see's revenues, pushed out the reigning bishop and appointed his teenage son as administrator. No bishop was anointed to succeed him and the diocese was ruled by administrators thru the Reformation, which arrived in 1540. Various princes of the Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel family ruled 1566-1623, of which Christian was the last. The next administrator was a prince of the Hohenzollern family and the bishopric was annexed to Brandenburg by the terms of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. It remained a part of Prussia until the end of the Wilhelmine empire. This specimen was lot 100 in Künker sale 263 (Osnabrück, June 2015), where it sold for €260 (about US$336 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BISTUM Domkapitel. Reichstaler 1623. Fast sehr schön. (bishopric of Halberstadt, thaler of 1623, choice very fine.)"
The bishop, Christian, was from Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel but never ruled as duke there. Several other thalers are recorded for 1623, including Dav-6324 and Dav-6325.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver.
Catalog reference: Besser/Brämer/Bürger 45.51; Dav-5339, KM 40.
- 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 Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Catalog 263, The Friedrich Popken collection of gold and silver coinages | Coins and Medals from Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. the collection of Ernst Otto Horn, part III, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2015.
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