Owner Comments:
Young Adalbert lay snugly wrapped in a snowy white blanket, sucking his pacifier with tranquility. “What a beautiful creation! But more importantly – look, one can already see the features of the Wittelsbach Family twinkling through him! That nose, that profile, it looks kingly already! And how sweetly he minds that binky,” exclaimed Ludwig as he embraced Theresa, and they lovingly looked into the baby’s crib. The newborn prince was yet another much-anticipated heir to the royal line of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. He was the youngest of four brothers, the other three having provided the Wittelsbach line with a bright future of great promise. “Thank you, my love,” whispered Ludwig as he kissed his wife, his eyes shining with tears of overwhelming pride. Another heir, all that a true king could possibly hope for! “It truly is some sort of a divine blessing upon our family. In fact, “Heavenly Blessing” sounds excellent as an inscription of some kind… let’s ask our dear director of the Muentzkabinet to issue a Memorial Taler for my youngest son and heir gracing these words, at once!” Instantly, Ludwig was swept into wild imaginings of the future Taler’s lustre and gleam until his wife’s curly brown hair softly came to rest upon his shoulder. “Dearest husband and King, but what of the other children? They too are all divine blessing upon this beautiful family. Surely it would be gracious to create a special Taler for each of them!” Thoughtfully, Ludwig replied, “Not a bad idea, my dear, we would get eight gorgeous, unique Talers – one for each precious child,” until suddenly, an enchanting idea invited his eyes to widen, “…or even better, we’ll have one great Taler to include all eight of them in their splendor! What an astonishing idea! We shall call it the Family Taler, the first of its kind!” In rapture of excitement, he swiftly kissed his wife and ran to find the Muentzdirektor.
————————————————————————————————— Male heirs were of utmost importance to the royal family – without them, the future of the kingly bloodline would be threatened. In the year 1834, the German historian Kramer wrote, “The ancient trunk is threatened that has only one branch, yet the eternal sky still watches the holy oak of Wittelsbach – and with its blessing, the tree’s radiant canopy has opened yet again.” The Family Taler displays the children of Ludwig I and his queen Theresa: the crown prince Maximilian, behind whom is Maximilian II (born 11/28/1811), Mathilda (08/30/1813), Otto (06/01/1815) – furthermore, the king of Greece, Leopold (03/14/1821) with prince-regent Adelgund (03/19/1823), Hildegard (06/10/1825), Alexander (08/26/1826) and Adalbert (07/19/1828). Another daughter, Theodolinde (10/07/1816) died during childhood and was unable to feature on the coin.
The Family Taler was of such popularity that even other kings tried to replicate the idea; for instance, the Russian Emperor Nicholas I released a series of Family Rubles, the likeness of which resembles the Family Taler of Ludwig I!
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German Talers since 1800 by John S. Davenport
Bavaria, King Ludwig Series (1825 - 1848).
Taler 1828, ROYAL FAMILY.
Davenport 563, KM 734, Thun 56, AKS 121, J.37.
For the Blessing of Heaven on the Royal Family.
Obverse: Head fo Ludwig to the right, LUDWIG I KOENIG VON BAYERN. ZEHN EINE FEINE MARK
Reverse: SEGEN DES HIMMELS, portrait of the mother queen surrounded by those of her eight children, 1828 below.
28.0600 g., 0.83300 Silver, 0.7515 oz. ASW.
PCGS MS 62.
Dull luster, sharp design, uncirculated and beautiful.