11/2 Thaler - Christian Louis Harz - Ausbeute - Löser

Christian Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle issued these Ausbeute pieces — literally "yield coins" — from silver extracted directly from the Harz mountain mines, a practice that allowed the duke to demonstrate both the productivity of his territories and his personal wealth in a single object. At 65 grams of Harz silver struck to roughly the size of a small saucer, the Löser format was never intended for commerce; these were diplomatic gifts, presentation pieces, and cabinet trophies. The Thirty Years' War had ended only thirteen years prior, and the Brunswick dukes were aggressively rebuilding dynastic prestige through exactly this kind of conspicuous numismatic production.

The 1½ Thaler denomination places this among the more unusual multiples in the Löser series, which more commonly ran to even multiples.