Pfalz 1792-AS 1/2 thaler KM-485
This specimen was lot 4936 in Künker sale 386 (Osnabrück, March 2023), where it sold for €600 (about US$775 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BAYERN, HERZOGTUM, SEIT 1623 KURFÜRSTENTUM, Karl Theodor, 1777-1799. 1/2 Konv.-Taler 1792, Mannheim, für die Rheinpfalz, auf das Vikariat. Hübsche Patina, kl. Schrötlingsfehler, fast vorzüglich. (electorate of Bavaria, Charles Theodore, 1777-99, half convention thaler of 1792, mannheim mint, for the Palatinate, on the vicariat. Handsome patina, small planchet defects, about extremely fine.)"
Karl Theodor was Count Palatine from 1742 and elector of Bavaria from 1777, uniting the Wittelsbachs lines. This type was struck in 1790 for the Palatinate during the elector's office of vicar of the empire after the death of Leopold II. A half thaler of the regular design (KM 468) was also struck in 1792. The Pfalz, or Palatinate, was occupied and annexed to France in 1799 and was not returned to Bavaria until the Congress of Vienna. The Electorate was abolished and Pfalz was merely another province of Bavaria, whose ruler was promoted to king.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 14.03 g, 0.833 fine silver, this specimen 13,95 g.
Catalog reference: KM 485, Haas 306; Hahn 402.
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 386: Brakteaten | Mainz | Bibliothek Prof. Dr. Niklot Klüßendorf | Mittelalter und Neuzeit | Goldprägungen | Deutsche Münzen ab 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2023.
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