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1/2 Thaler Bicentenary of the Reformation
| Issuer | Hamburg, Free Hanseatic city of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1717 |
| Type | Commemorative circulation coin |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The entire reverse field is occupied by a seven-line commemorative Latin inscription arranged across the coin, recording the occasion of the second Lutheran Evangelical jubilee celebrated in the secular year 1717. Below the inscription, the Hamburg city arms — a crowned white castle on a red field — are depicted in relief, flanked by the mintmaster's initials I-R. The milled border frames the plain field, with no additional decorative elements. |
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| Additional information |
Hamburg struck this piece to mark the 200th anniversary of Luther's 1517 Ninety-Five Theses — an event the city's Lutheran establishment treated as a civic triumph as much as a religious one. Hamburg had formally adopted Lutheranism in 1529 and fiercely maintained confessional independence through two centuries of Catholic imperial pressure. By 1717, the centenary jubilee tradition was already well established in Protestant Germany, and commemorative issues from multiple cities appeared that year, making Hamburg's contribution one of several competing civic statements rather than a singular act.
Gaedechens 1751 distinguishes this half thaler from the full thaler issue of the same event, both produced in modest quantities for presentation and ceremonial distribution.