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1/2 Portugalöser
| Issuer | Hamburg, Free Hanseatic city of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1578-1582 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | A large ornate Portuguese cross occupies the center of the coin, its four arms decorated with elegant Renaissance foliate and scrollwork flourishes terminating in stylized fleur-de-lis and pellet ornaments, all set within a beaded inner circle. The cross is rendered in high relief and clearly derived from the cross design of the Portuguese cruzado, reflecting Hamburg's commercial ties with Portugal and the Iberian gold trade. A circular Latin legend surrounds the cross within the beaded border, invoking salvation through the crucified Christ. The overall composition is boldly struck with ample flan, characteristic of this prestigious series of Hamburg gold multiples. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The Portugalöser was Hamburg's deliberate imitation of the Portuguese 10-cruzado gold piece, adopted by several northern German commercial cities in the sixteenth century as a high-value trade and presentation coin. The half denomination, struck in the years spanning 1578 to 1582, falls within a period when Hamburg's position as the dominant entrepôt for Iberian trade goods — particularly spice and sugar routed through Antwerp's collapse — made Portuguese monetary conventions commercially legible to the city's merchant class.
Surviving examples in any condition are genuinely rare. The Gaedechens corpus lists only a handful of die-documented specimens across all collections.