Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1½ Thaler - Ferdinand of Bayern
| Issuer | Bishopric of Münster |
|---|---|
| Year | 1638 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 43.25 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Within a square klippe field, a four-fold quartered oval coat of arms of Pfalz-Bavaria, richly ornamented, is displayed beneath a bishop's mitre. The shield is flanked by a crozier to the left and a sword to the right, representing ecclesiastical and temporal authority. The circular legend surrounding the design reads in Latin abbreviation. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Latin |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Ferdinand of Bavaria held the see of Münster from 1612 until his death in 1650, simultaneously occupying the archbishopric of Cologne and several other northern German ecclesiastical territories — an accumulation of offices that made him one of the most politically powerful churchmen in the Empire. The 1½ Thaler denomination was never a workhorse of commerce; issues at this weight were produced for presentation, gift-giving among the nobility, or as Schaumünzen with quasi-medallic intent.
1638 falls squarely within the Thirty Years' War, with Westphalia itself badly disrupted by troop movements and occupation. That a piece of this size was struck at all that year reflects the bishop's determination to project fiscal authority under pressure.