3 Thalers - John Frederick Death

John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Calenberg, died in December 1679 after a reign marked by aggressive territorial ambition and a late-life conversion to Catholicism that alarmed his Protestant subjects and complicated his political alliances considerably. These large multiple-thaler memorial pieces were struck expressly for distribution among the court and nobility rather than for any monetary function — at 83.7 grams of silver they were never intended for a pocket or a purse.

Welter 1686 and Dav BrSL 221 document this type as a genuine rarity in high grades, attributable in part to the ceremonial handling most examples received from the outset.