Munster 1638-EK 1-1/2 thaler Dav-5594A
This specimen was lot 513 in Künker Auction 424 (Osnabrück, July 2025), where it sold for €36,000 (about US$50,976 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"DEUTSCHE MÜNZEN UND MEDAILLEN · MÜNSTER, BISTUM Ferdinand von Bayern, 1612-1650. 1 1/2fache Reichstalerklippe 1638, Münster. · FERDINAND · ELECT · COL · EPS · MONAST · BAVA · DVX · Gekröntes und verziertes, vierfeldiges Wappen (Bayern, Pfalz / Pfalz, Bayern) mit Mittelschild von Münster, dahinter Krummstab und Schwert gekreuzt//· S · PAVLVS · - · PATRON · - MONASTERIEN Stadtansicht, darüber Kniebild des Heiligen Paulus mit Schwert und Buch, unten die Signatur EK (Engelbert Ketteler, Münzmeister in Münster 1636-1661) und die Jahreszahl 1638. Von allergrößter Seltenheit. Prachtexemplar. Hübsche Patina, vorzüglich-Stempelglanz. Exemplar der Auktion Fritz Rudolf Künker 346, Berlin 2021, Nr. 243. (Germany, bishopric of Münster, Ferdinand of Bavaria, 1612-50, klippe 1½ 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. Extremely rare, cabinet example, handsome patina, extremely fine to uncirculated.)"
This extremely rare issue accompanied a double thaler with the Adoration of the Magi on the reverse (Dav-5594). This 1½ thaler is mentioned in Davenport only as a klippe. 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: 43.5 g, silver; this specimen 43,25 g.
Catalog reference: KM 16 (klippe), Dav-5594A (klippe); Schulze 26.
- 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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