Julich-Berg 1709 1/6 thaler
This specimen was lot 152 in Künker sale 400 (Berlin, February 2024), where it sold for €1,500 (about US$1,946 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"JÜLICH-BERG, HERZOGTUM, Johann Wilhelm II. 1679-1716. 1/6 Taler 1709, Düsseldorf. RR Feine Tönung, fast vorzüglich. (Germany, duchy of Julich-Berg, John William II, 1679-1716, one-sixth thaler of 1709, Dusseldorf mint. Very rare, fine toning, about extremely fine.)"
The native dynasty of dukes, which ruled Julich, Berg, Mark and Cleve, fell extinct in 1609. Brandenburg and Pfalz-Neuburg fought a war over the inheritance and eventually partitioned it, Julich-Berg going to Pfalz-Neuberg, which ruled it until the French Revolution. The SCWC also records this issue with initials "IAL". Johann Wilhelm was also elector of the Palatinate 1690-1716 and had to bear the brunt of French attacks on the empire.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 5.60 g.
Catalog reference: KM 125, Noss 845 a.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 400: Selected löser of the Dukes of Guelph from the Friedrich Popken Collection | Numismatic treasures from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. "multiple portraits" from a Westphalian private collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
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