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How did debased coinage help Albrecht von Wallenstein acquire estates in Bohemia?
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Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht von Wallenstein, portrait by Anthony van Dyck, 1629; in the Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich.
Following the Bohemian rebellion, Albrecht von Wallenstein was appointed as a partner in a syndicate granted the exclusive right to issue currency in Bohemia, Moravia, and Austria at half its previous par value, a rate he subsequently reduced to one-third.1
By utilizing this debased coinage, Wallenstein was able to purchase nearly 60 estates that had been confiscated from executed or banished nobles. These acquisitions were further facilitated by the fact that the properties were sold to him at half of their official assessment, allowing him to consolidate control over northeastern Bohemia and eventually rise to the rank of duke of Friedland.1