Magdeburg 1573 1/2 thaler
This specimen was lot 4294 in Künker sale 441 (Osnabrück, March 2026), where it sold for €8,500 (about US$ including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"MAGDEBURG, ERZBISTUM Joachim Friedrich von Brandenburg, 1566-1598. 1/2 Reichstaler 1573, Magdeburg. Von großer Seltenheit. Fast vorzüglich. Erworben bei der Degussa, Frankfurt am Main. (archbishopric of Magdeburg, Joachim Frederick of Brandenburg, 1566-98, half thaler of 1573, Magdeburg mint. Extremely rare, about extremely fine.)"
By the second half of the sixteenth century, the archbishopric of Magdeburg was completely converted to Lutheranism yet the ecclesiastical state was not abolished. Instead, it became a puppet state of the elector of Brandenburg, who either appointed himself or one of his close relatives archbishop. Brandenburg annexed it outright in 1680. Joachim Frederick of Brandenburg is shown here as administrator, not archbishop.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 14.07-14.90 g, silver, this specimen 14,40 g.
Catalog reference: KM MBA68, v. Schr. 284.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- 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, Frühjahrs-Auktion 441: Orders and Decorations from the Estate of Wilhelm, Duke of Bavaria (1752–1837), among others | Coins and Medals from the Middle Ages and Modern times, particularly Denmark, Habsburg, Norway, and Saxony, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2026.
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