1/2 Ducat

Zürich's ducats of this period were struck under the authority of the city's mint master, with the half ducat serving primarily as a prestige issue and trade facilitator rather than everyday currency — gold of this fineness circulated upward, not downward through the economy. The twenty-one year emission window likely reflects continuous restrikings from the same dies rather than annual production, a common practice among Swiss city-states that complicates precise dating of individual pieces.

The .986 fineness marginally exceeds the Venetian ducat standard the denomination was named after.