newp - 1761 sede vacante medal - Hildesheim

worldcoinguy · April 13, 2011 5:02AM

I have a new arrival this week. It is a 1761 sede vacante issue medal from the german state of Hildesheim. The 56mm piece commemorates the death of Clemens August of Bavaria in 1761. You might recognize the name, as he was the archbishop and prince-elector of Cologne, prince-bishop of Münster, Osnabrück and Paderborn as well as Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. I have posted threads in the past for medals/talers from other german states commemorating the same sede vacante event in the church. Interestingly, the state of Hildesheim officially switched to protestantism in the 16th century, but the Bavarian branch of the Wittelsbach royal family kept power in Bavaria (i.e. Holy Roman Empire) until the death of Charles VII's son in 1777. The Wittelsbach family served as Dukes, Electors, and Kings of Bavaria from 1180 to 1918.

Classified as Zepernick 145 / Mehl 676.

p.s. - the reverse scratch is a shame but I will have to live with it. Unfortunately, it was not as prominent in the auction pictures, nor was it mentioned in the auction description.

worldcoinguy · April 13, 2011 5:32AM

Here is the other medal that arrived a few months ago. It was also issued in 1761 to commemorate the same sede vacante event, but this one was issued by the german state of Munster. It is approx the same size as the Hildesheim piece. The color balance is wrong and the top of the medal is blurry so I will take another crack at imaging at some point in the future.

Zepernick 224 / Schultze 252