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1/2 Thaler
| Issuer | Lübeck, Free Hanseatic city of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1580-1595 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | MB#162, Behr#216 |
| Obverse description | Full-length facing figure of St. John the Baptist, robed, holding the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) in his right hand and a staff surmounted by a cross in his left, set within an inner beaded circle. The city arms of Lübeck — a quartered shield with a double-headed eagle displayed — appear below the saint's figure. The date appears at the end of the Latin circular legend in the outer field. |
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| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Lübeck's half thalers of this period were struck under the authority of a city that had spent much of the sixteenth century defending its commercial dominance against the rising power of the Dutch. The Hanseatic League was visibly fracturing by 1580 — Antwerp's sack in 1576 had reshuffled northern European trade routes, and Lübeck was pressing its mint rights aggressively as a marker of continued civic independence.
The fifteen-year span of this type reflects a long-running die series rather than annual recoinage, which accounts for the variation collectors encounter across surviving specimens.