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1/2 Thaler - Gábor Bethlen
| Issuer | Principality of Transylvania |
|---|---|
| Year | 1628 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 13.94 g |
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| Obverse lettering | GABR D G SA R IMP ET TRANS PRINCEPS (Translation: Gabriel Dei gratia Sacri Romani Imperii et Transilvaniae princeps) |
| Reverse description | Central crowned oval coat of arms of the Principality of Transylvania, incorporating the quartered arms of Transylvania, Hungary, and the Székely nation, flanked by elaborate baroque cartouche scrollwork. A royal crown surmounts the shield. The date 1628 appears in the upper left field, and the mintmaster's initials C-C are divided across the lower field. The circumferential Latin legend PAR RE HVN DNS SI CO OP RATIB DVX encircles the composition, recording Bethlen's full titles as lord of the Hungarian partium and duke of Opole and Racibórz. |
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| Additional information |
Bethlen's treasury funded one of the most aggressive military and diplomatic campaigns in Central European history — three separate invasions of Royal Hungary between 1619 and 1626, each timed to exploit Habsburg overextension during the Thirty Years' War. This 1628 issue falls in the final years of his reign, after the Peace of Pozsony secured him seven Hungarian counties for life. With Ottoman suzerainty keeping Habsburg pressure at bay, Bethlen's mint at Gyulafehérvár operated with unusual stability for the period, producing silver coinage of consistent quality backed by revenues from his tight personal control of Transylvania's mineral and trade wealth.