Munster 1638-EK thaler Dav-5593
This specimen was lot 514 in Künker Auction 424 (Osnabrück, July 2025), where it sold for €4,200 (about US$5,947 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"DEUTSCHE MÜNZEN UND MEDAILLEN · MÜNSTER, BISTUM Ferdinand von Bayern, 1612-1650. Reichstaler 1638, Münster. Gekröntes und verziertes, vierfeldiges Wappen (Bayern, Pfalz / Pfalz, Bayern) mit Mittelschild von Münster, dahinter Krummstab und Schwert gekreuzt//Stadtansicht, darüber Kniebild des Heiligen Paulus mit Schwert und Buch, unten die Jahreszahl 1638. RR Vorzügliches Exemplar mit feiner Patina. Exemplar der Auktion Fritz Rudolf Künker 122, Osnabrück 2007, Nr. 4492. (bishopric of Münster, Ferdinand of Bavaria, 1612-50, thaler of 1638, Münster mint. Obverse: crowned and quartered arms of Bavaria and the Palatinate with the escutcheon of Münster, crossed crozier and sword behind; reverse: St. Paul with book and sword behind a city view, date below. Very rare, extremely fine example with fine patina.)"
This rare issue accompanied a similar double thaler (Dav-5592). The town and the region were thoroughly devastated by the Thirty Years War and never recovered. The bishop succeeded in establishing the Counter-Reformation there and holding the region for the Catholic Church. Ferdinand was also bishop of Hildesheim, Liege and Paderborn and archbishop of Cologne.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 29 g, silver; this specimen 29,03 g.
Catalog reference: KM 12, Dav-5593; Schulze 22.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Davenport, John S., German Church and City Talers, 1600-1700, Galesburg, IL, 1967.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 424: Münster, Osnabrück, and the Peace of Westphalia | The Fuggers, Leuchtenberg, and Passau | The Collection of a German Manufacturer and History Enthusiast, Part 3, e.g., Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2025.
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