1 Thaler

Lüneburg's wealth in the sixteenth century was built almost entirely on salt — the city controlled the Lüneburg Heath brine springs and supplied preserved fish markets as far as Scandinavia. That commercial dominance funded civic coinage of genuine ambition. These thalers were struck during a period when the city was navigating the immediate aftermath of the Schmalkaldic War, in which Lüneburg had sided with the Protestant princes against Charles V.

The Mader 149a variety is distinguished by specific die characteristics documented by Johann Mader in his exhaustive study of Lower Saxon coinage — collectors should verify the reverse die against his plates before attributing.