Julich-Cleve-Berg 1568 thaler Dav-9108
This specimen was lot 5293 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €900 (about US$1,163 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"KLEVE, GRAFSCHAFT, SEIT 1417 HERZOGTUM, Wilhelm V. 1539-1592. Reichstaler 1568, Kleve, mit Gegenstempel von Holland auf der Vorderseite. RR Sehr schön. Aus der Sammlung "Cygnus in Nummis". Exemplar der Auktion Leu Numismatik AG 85, Zürich 2002, Nr. 108. (duchy of Cleve, William V, 1539-92, thaler of 1568, Cleve mint, with Holland counterstamp on the obverse. Very rare, very fine.)"
This type was struck 1568-74, 1578 and 1583-84 and is quite scarce in nice condition. Wikipedia comments,
"The United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg was a combination of states of the Holy Roman Empire. The duchies of Jülich and Berg united in 1423. Nearly a century later, in 1521, these two duchies, along with the county of Ravensberg, fell extinct, with only the last duke's daughter Maria von Geldern left to inherit; under Salic law, women could only hold property through a husband or guardian, so the territories passed to her husband—and distant relative—John III, Duke of Cleves and Mark as a result of their strategic marriage in 1509. These united duchies controlled most of the present-day North Rhine-Westphalia that was not within the ecclesiastical territories of Electoral Cologne and Münster."
When the last duke died in 1609, Brandenburg and Pfalz fought a war over the legacy and in 1624 partitioned it, an opening act of the Thirty Years War.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen is 28,83 g.
Catalog reference: KM MB28, Dav-9108 (without counterstamp); Noss 257 b (without counterstamp).
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Davenport, John S., German Talers, 1500-1600, Frankfurt am Main, Numismatischer Verlag P. N. Schulten, 1979.
- Nicol, N. Douglas, Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of German Coins, 1501-Present, 3rd ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 386: Brakteaten | Mainz | Bibliothek Prof. Dr. Niklot Klüßendorf | Mittelalter und Neuzeit | Goldprägungen | Deutsche Münzen ab 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2023.
Link to: