Halberstadt 1630-CZ thaler Dav-5349
This specimen was lot 2177 in Künker Auction 425 (Osnabrück, July 2025), where it sold for €420 (about US$595 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"DEUTSCHE MÜNZEN UND MEDAILLEN · HALBERSTADT, BISTUM Domkapitel. Reichstaler 1630. Schrötlingsrisse am Rand, kl. Schürfspur im Feld der Rückseite, sonst fast vorzüglich. (Germany, bishopric of Halberstadt, thaler of 1630, struck by the cathedral chapter. Planchet cracks on the edge, small abrasion mark in the field of the reverse, otherwise almost extremely fine.)"
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. This thaler was issued by the cathedral chapter while the bishop, Christian William of Brandenburg, who was also archbishop of Magdeburg, was in exile. 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.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 28,90 g.
Catalog reference: KM 66.1, Dav-5349; Zepernick 135; Besser/Brämer/Bürger 45.59 leicht var.
- 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, Katalog 425: Gold coins from the Medieval and Modern Times, from the Mohr family collection, e.g. | Silver coins, e.g. highlights of medallic art | German coins after 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2025.
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