Magdeburg 1640-PS 1/2 thaler
This specimen was lot 1001 in Künker sale 293 (Osnabrück, Germany, July 2017), where it sold for €3,800 (about US$5,122 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"MAGDEBURG, ERZBISTUM, August von Sachsen-Weissenfels, 1638-1680. 1/2 Reichstaler 1640, Halle. Von großer Seltenheit. Feine Patina, sehr schön-vorzüglich. (Germany, archbishopric of Magdeburg, Augustus of Saxe-Weissenfels, 1638-80, half thaler of 1640, Halle mint. Very rare, fine patina, very fine to 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. This issue of 1640 is rare; see also the matching thaler (Dav-5502). Magdeburg, sacked and burned in 1631, would never recover her former prosperity.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver.
Catalog reference: v. Schr. 758, KM 131.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [1]Künker Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Katalog 293: Münzen aus Mittelalter und Neuzeit u. a. die westfälischen Privatsammlungen Werner Bröker und Bernd Terletzki, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2017.
Link to:
- city of Magdeburg 1629 6 groschen
- 1640-PS thaler
- Coins and currency dated 1640
- return to coins of Magdeburg