Pfalz (1619-20) 1/4 thaler
This specimen was lot 800 in Steve Album Auction 54 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2026), where it sold for $540. The catalog description[1] noted, "PFALZ-SIMMERN: Friedrich V, as King of Bohemia, 1619-1620, AR 1/4 thaler, Heidelberg, crowned lion rampant left, FRID D G REX BOHE // three coats of arms, crown above, CO PALA REHNI ELECTOR DVX BAVA, faint scratch on reverse, very rare, XF." This obscure issue doesn't seem to be listed in the SCWC. It is vaguely similar to a Bavaria 1623 kipper 24 kreuzer (KM 56.3) and an undated Bavaria quarter thaler (KM 150), both issued for the Oberpfalz but neither cite Frederick V, elector 1610-23. The various lines of Pfalz divided and subdivided but eventually all fell extinct except for Pfalz-Birkenfeld which inherited the lot and Bavaria as well in the late eighteenth century.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 6.00 g.
Catalog reference: Memmesheimer-2271.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Hanbing Feng, Auction 54, featuring selections from the Kenneth A. Bovenkamp Collection of Ottoman Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2025.
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