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1/2 Thaler - Joachim Frederick of Brandenburg
| Issuer | Magdeburg, Archbishopric of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1582-1592 |
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| Value | 1/2 Thaler |
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| Obverse description | Armored three-quarter bust of Joachim Frederick of Brandenburg facing right, depicted in elaborate plate armor with a ruffled collar and decorative pauldrons, set within a beaded inner circle. The legend surrounding the bust reads IOA(CHIM). FRID(ERI)(C). D. G. ADMINIST(RA). MA(GD)., identifying the sitter as Administrator of Magdeburg by the grace of God. The portrait is rendered in the robust, high-relief style characteristic of late sixteenth-century German hammered coinage, with fine detail in the armor chasing and facial features. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | IOA(CHIM). FRID(E)(RI)(C). D. G. ADMINIST(R)(A). MA(G)(D). |
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| Additional information |
Joachim Frederick administered Magdeburg as Archbishop-Elect from 1566 but was never confirmed by Rome — he was Lutheran, and papal confirmation was never going to come. The Archbishopric operated in this canonical limbo for decades, governed by Protestant administrators whose coinage carried full episcopal authority in every practical sense while remaining technically irregular by Catholic ecclesiastical law. Joachim Frederick left Magdeburg in 1598 to become Elector of Brandenburg, the archbishopric eventually passing to his son Christian William.
Schr#290 places this among a well-documented thaler series for the see, though half-thaler denominations from this administration are considerably scarcer in the market than their full-thaler counterparts.