Charles Theodore von Dalberg was simultaneously Archbishop of Regensburg, Primate of the Confederation of the Rhine, and a close political ally of Napoleon — a combination of ecclesiastical and secular authority that made him one of the most unusual issuing figures in German numismatic history. His coinage authority derived entirely from Napoleonic reorganization of German territories after Austerlitz, and these half talers were struck in Frankfurt during a window of political convenience that closed when Napoleon fell.
The Confederation itself dissolved in 1813, leaving Dalberg's coinage orphaned after just a few years of production. Low original mintages across the series make survivors genuinely scarce in any grade.
Charles Theodore von Dalberg was simultaneously Archbishop of Regensburg, Primate of the Confederation of the Rhine, and a close political ally of Napoleon — a combination of ecclesiastical and secular authority that made him one of the most unusual issuing figures in German numismatic history. His coinage authority derived entirely from Napoleonic reorganization of German territories after Austerlitz, and these half talers were struck in Frankfurt during a window of political convenience that closed when Napoleon fell.
The Confederation itself dissolved in 1813, leaving Dalberg's coinage orphaned after just a few years of production. Low original mintages across the series make survivors genuinely scarce in any grade.