Julich-Berg 1738-FM 2/3 thaler
This specimen was lot 4227 in Künker sale 406 (Osnabrück, March 2024), where it sold for €800 (about US$1,050 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"JÜLICH-BERG, HERZOGTUM, Karl Philipp, 1716-1742. 2/3 Taler Feinsilber 1738, Düsseldorf. Ausbeute der Bergischen Gruben (Wildberg). RR Hübsche Patina, winz. Randfehler, fast vorzüglich. (duchy of Jülich-Berg, Charles Philip, 1716-42, two-thirds thaler of fine silver or 1738, Düsseldorf mint, for the mines. Very rare, handsome patina, some edge defects, 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. Altho this rare coin is supposed to weigh two-thirds of a thaler (about 19.3 g), it only weighs four-ninths.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 12,93 g.
Catalog reference: KM 193, Dav-602; Noss 947; Müseler 46.1/1 (listed under Pfalz-Neuburg).
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Davenport, John S., Silver Gulden, 1559-1763, Frankfurt am Main, Numismatischer Verlag P. N. Schulten, 1982.
- 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 406: Gold Coins | Coins and Medals from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. Löwenstein-Wertheim | German Coins after 1871, a. o. Patterns from the Coenen Collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
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