Frankfurt's 1717 Reformation bicentenary fell at a politically charged moment — the city was Lutheran but surrounded by Catholic imperial pressure, and the commemorative program was as much a statement of civic confessional identity as it was a anniversary observance. Dozens of German Protestant states struck similar pieces that year, making 1717 one of the most prolific single-year commemorative coinages in German history.
The Slg. Whiting reference places this among the systematically catalogued Reformation medals and coins assembled by Kenneth Whiting, whose collection remains a primary classification tool for this commemorative type.
Frankfurt's 1717 Reformation bicentenary fell at a politically charged moment — the city was Lutheran but surrounded by Catholic imperial pressure, and the commemorative program was as much a statement of civic confessional identity as it was a anniversary observance. Dozens of German Protestant states struck similar pieces that year, making 1717 one of the most prolific single-year commemorative coinages in German history.
The Slg. Whiting reference places this among the systematically catalogued Reformation medals and coins assembled by Kenneth Whiting, whose collection remains a primary classification tool for this commemorative type.