(sold for $55.0)

1764, Bavaria (Electorate), Maximilian III Joseph. Silver Thaler Coin. Amberg mint!

Mint Year: 1764 State: Bavaria (German State) Denomination: Silver "Madonna" Thaler Reference: Davenport 1954, KM-519.2. Condition: A well-circulated VF with light deposits and some hairlines! Weight: 27.75gm Diameter: 41mm Material: Silver

Obverse: Draped bust of  Maximilian III Joseph right, wearing Order of the Golden Fleece  & large cross-shaped badge. Mint initial (A) below arm truncation. Legend: D.G.MAX.IOS.&.P.S.D.C.P.R.S.R.I.A.&.EL.L.L.

Reverse: The Virgin (Madonna)  seated in clouds, holding baby-Jesus child and cross-topped orb in left  hand and scepter in right hand. Legend: PATRONA BAVARIAE . / 1764 .

Maximilian III  Joseph (28 March 1727 – 30 December 1777) was  Prince-elector of Bavaria from 1745 to 1777.

Born in Munich, Maximilian was the eldest son of  Emperor Charles VII and his wife Marie Amalie, Archduchess of Austria.  His maternal grandparents were Emperor Joseph I and Wilhelmina Amalia of  Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Upon his  father's death in 1745, he inherited a country in the process of being  invaded by Austrian armies (see War of the Austrian Succession), and  quickly abandoned his father's imperial pretenses and made peace with  Maria Theresa in the Treaty of Füssen, in which he agreed to support her  husband, Grand Duke Francis Stephen of Tuscany, in the upcoming  imperial election.

MaximilianJoseph was a progressive and enlightened  ruler who did much to improve the development of his country. In 1747  the porcelain factory at Nymphenburg was established. Munich's first  academic institution, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, was founded in  1759 by Maximilian III. During the severe dearth in 1770 Maximilian sold  crown jewels to pay corn shipments. In this year he also issued his  edict against the extravagant pomposity of the Church which contributed  to the end of the era of Bavarian rococo. He also forbade the  Oberammergau Passion Play. In 1771 the elector regulated the general  school attendance.

In December of  1777 Maximilian Joseph died of small pox without leaving an heir. As the  last of the junior branch of the Wittelsbach dynasty which derived from  Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor and had ruled Bavaria since early 14th  century, his death led to a succession dispute and the brief War of the  Bavarian Succession. Maximilian's consort Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony  negotiated with Prussia to secure Bavaria's independence against  Austria. Ultimately, he was succeeded by his distant cousin, the Elector  Palatine Karl IV from the senior branch of the dynasty.

Max III Joseph is buried in the crypt of the Theatinerkirche in Munich.

Max III Joseph ordered in 1751 François de Cuvilliés  to construct the splendid rococo Cuvilliés Theatre. Wolfgang Amadeus  Mozart was received by Maximilian III Joseph, who was skilled in music  and composed, but due to strict frugality no post was offered.