Magdeburg 1580-DS thaler Dav-9440
This specimen was lot 4295 in Künker sale 441 (Osnabrück, March 2026), where it sold for €2,200 (about US$3,027 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"MAGDEBURG, ERZBISTUM Joachim Friedrich von Brandenburg, 1566-1598. Reichstaler 1580, Magdeburg. RR Attraktives Exemplar mit feiner Patina, sehr schön. (archbishopric of Magdeburg, Joachim Frederick of Brandenburg, 1566-98, thaler of 1580, Magdeburg mint. Very rare, attractive example with fine patina, very 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, and the basis of his rule is made clear by his armor and weapons.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 29 g, silver, this specimen 28,79 g.
Catalog reference: KM MB104, v. Schr. 237; Dav-9440.
- 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, 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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