Halberstadt 1625 1/8 thaler
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 5784 in Künker sale 354 (Osnabrück, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €4,400 (about US$6,124 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"HALBERSTADT, BISTUM, Domkapitel. 1/8 Reichstaler (1/2 Ortstaler) 1625. Von größter Seltenheit. Leicht gewellt, fast vorzüglich. (Germany, bishopric of Halberstadt, cathedral chapter, one eighth thaler of 1625. Extremely rare, slightly wavy, about extremely fine.)"
This rare item, issued by the cathedral chapter, not the Lutheran bishop, is not priced in the SCWC.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 3.43 g.
Catalog reference: KM 41, Besser/Brämer/Bürger 45.75 (this example).
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Künker Auktion 354: Munzen und Medaillen aus Mittelalter und Neuzeit u. a. Braunschweig-Luneburg. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2021.
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