Magdeburg 1603 thaler Dav-5508

Künker sale 263, lot 437

This specimen was lot 437 in Künker sale 263 (Osnabrück, June 2015), where it sold for €2,600 (about US$3,359 including buyer's fees). The catalog description^[1] noted,

"Magdeburg, STADT Reichstaler (24 Groschen) 1603, mit Titel Rudolfs II. Von größter Seltenheit. Hübsche Patina, sehr schön. (Germany, city of Magdeburg, thaler of 1571, in the name of Rudolf II. Of the gretest rarity, nice patina, very fine.)"

By the second half of the sixteenth century, the archbishopric of Magdeburg was completely converted to Lutheranism yet the ecclesiastical state was not abolished. Instead, it became a puppet state of the elector of Brandenburg, who either appointed himself or one of his close relatives archbishop. Brandenburg annexed it outright in 1680. This rare type was issued by the city, not the archbishop.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: silver.

Catalog reference: Dav-5508, v. Schr. 1038, KM 208.

Source:

• 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 Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Catalog 263, The Friedrich Popken collection of gold and silver coinages | Coins and Medals from Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. the collection of Ernst Otto Horn, part III, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2015.

Link to:

• 1602 thaler
• 1617 city thaler
• Coins and currency dated 1603
• return to coins of Magdeburg