Passau 1574 30 kreuzer
This specimen was lot 634 in Künker Auction 424 (Osnabrück, July 2025), where it sold for €9,000 (about US$12,744 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"DEUTSCHE MÜNZEN UND MEDAILLEN · PASSAU, BISTUM Urban von Trennbach, 1561-1598. 30 Kreuzer (1/2 Reichsguldiner) 1574, Passau, mit Titel Maximilians II. Von großer Seltenheit. Feine Patina, fast vorzüglich. (Germany, bishopric of Passau, Urban von Trennbach, 1561-1598, thirty kreuzer or half guldiner of 1574, struck in the name of Maximilian II. Extremly rare, fine patina, about extremely fine.)"
After the mid-sixteenth century, the gulden and the thaler diverged, the gulden remaining sixty kreuzer while the thaler rose to 72 kreuzer. This is a half gulden or 5/12 thaler. The bishopric of Passau was annexed to Bavaria in 1803 and 1805.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specifications: silver, this specimen 12,27 g.
Catalog reference: KM MB73, Kellner 103.
- Nicol, N. Douglas, Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of German Coins, 1501-Present, 3rd ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2011.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- [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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