1656 Wildman Thaler (Dav-6528)

The Wildman (Wilder Mann) thalers of Brunswick-Lüneburg are among the most iconic and beloved talers of the German baroque. Struck from the rich silver of the Harz Mountains, they take their name from the powerful figure of a wild, club-bearing forest man - an old heraldic supporter of the Welf dukes who came to symbolize the strength, mineral wealth, and rugged independence of the duchy itself.

This 1656 HS thaler was issued under Duke Christian Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg of the Calenberg line, with mintmaster's initials HS (Henning Schlüter) at the Clausthal mint. The obverse shows the wild man in his characteristic pose - nude, full-bearded, striding forward, holding an uprooted fir tree as a club - surrounded by the legend PIETATE ET IUSTITIA ("by piety and justice") and the date ANNO 1656.

The reverse carries the elaborate multi-quartered ducal arms of Brunswick-Lüneburg, crowned with multiple helms and richly draped mantling, with the titular legend D[EI] G[RATIA] GEORG[II] WILH[ELMI] HERTZOG ZU BRUN[SCHWEIG] U[ND] L[ÜNEBURG] - the Latinized German title of the Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg.

Davenport-6528 is one of the standard reference numbers for this Wildman type. The coin captures the essence of mid-17th-century German thaler coinage: deeply political imagery, rich heraldry, and a moralizing motto, all struck in heavy Harz silver only a few years after the Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended the Thirty Years' War.

NGC XF-45 is a strong, honest circulated grade for this type. The Wildman's musculature, beard, and tree-club remain crisp, and the heraldic detail on the reverse is preserved across the central shield and surrounding helms - exactly the level of definition Wildman collectors prize.