1 Thaler - Frederick of Wied

Frederick of Wied held the archbishopric of Cologne for only four years, from 1562 to 1567, an unusually short tenure that limits the output of his coinage considerably. He was the son of Count Friedrich II of Wied and gained the see through chapter election rather than any notable ecclesiastical distinction — a common enough arrangement in the prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire, where temporal politics often outweighed theological ones.

Noss CoIII#61 is among the scarcer documented varieties of his thalers, with surviving examples appearing infrequently at auction.