Halberstadt 1626-HS thaler Dav-6327
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 5444 in Künker sale 354 (Osnabrück, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €1,800 (about US$2,505 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRAUNSCHWEIG UND LÜNEBURG, BRAUNSCHWEIG-WOLFENBÜTTEL, FÜRSTENTUM, Christian, Bischof von Halberstadt, 1617-1626. Reichstaler 1626, Zellerfeld, auf seinen Tod am 16. Juni. RR Sehr schön +. Aus der Sammlung eines Ingenieurs. Exemplar der Auktion Westfälische Auktionsgesellschaft 39, Dortmund 2006, Nr. 1104. (Germany, bishopric of Halberstadt, Christian of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, 1617-26, thaler of 1626, Zellerfeld mint, on his death on June 16. Very rare, very fine or better.)"
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 28,14 g.
Catalog reference: KM 49.1, Dav-6327; Welter Nachtrag 1387.
- 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, 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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