East Frisia's monetary output in the early 1630s was produced under extreme duress — the Thirty Years' War had brought Imperial and Spanish troops repeatedly through the region, and Ulrich II ruled a county whose political survival was genuinely uncertain. Large silver multiples like this double thaler were struck more for diplomatic and prestational purposes than circulation; pieces of this weight and denomination moved between treasuries and noble hands, not market stalls.
Davenport's attribution confirms the type, but survivors in any condition are infrequently encountered at auction.
East Frisia's monetary output in the early 1630s was produced under extreme duress — the Thirty Years' War had brought Imperial and Spanish troops repeatedly through the region, and Ulrich II ruled a county whose political survival was genuinely uncertain. Large silver multiples like this double thaler were struck more for diplomatic and prestational purposes than circulation; pieces of this weight and denomination moved between treasuries and noble hands, not market stalls.
Davenport's attribution confirms the type, but survivors in any condition are infrequently encountered at auction.