1/2 Thaler - Ferdinand of Bayern

Ferdinand of Bavaria held the see of Hildesheim from 1612 while simultaneously serving as Elector of Cologne and holding several other ecclesiastical appointments — a concentration of benefices that drew repeated criticism but reflected the Wittelsbachs' calculated strategy of accumulating church offices across the Empire. The date range of this issue coincides almost exactly with the early phases of the Thirty Years' War, when Hildesheim's coinage was under pressure from both monetary debasement spreading through the Lower Saxon Circle and the disruptions of troop movements through the region.

The Kipper und Wipper crisis had peaked just before this series began, leaving mints across the Empire scrambling to restore credible silver coinage.