Corvey's thalers of the late 17th century were struck under the authority of the prince-abbots, who held both ecclesiastical and secular power over the territory — a jurisdictional arrangement that made the abbey one of the more unusual minting authorities in the Holy Roman Empire. Florenz von Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht, known in records as Florenz of Welden, ruled as prince-abbot from 1696 until his death in 1714, and this 1698 issue falls early in that tenure.
Corvey's minting rights dated back centuries, but by the 1690s the abbey's political autonomy was under increasing pressure from neighboring Brandenburg-Prussia. This thaler is one of the later substantial silver issues the house would produce before those rights became effectively nominal.
Corvey's thalers of the late 17th century were struck under the authority of the prince-abbots, who held both ecclesiastical and secular power over the territory — a jurisdictional arrangement that made the abbey one of the more unusual minting authorities in the Holy Roman Empire. Florenz von Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht, known in records as Florenz of Welden, ruled as prince-abbot from 1696 until his death in 1714, and this 1698 issue falls early in that tenure.
Corvey's minting rights dated back centuries, but by the 1690s the abbey's political autonomy was under increasing pressure from neighboring Brandenburg-Prussia. This thaler is one of the later substantial silver issues the house would produce before those rights became effectively nominal.