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1/2 Thaler - John George I

Issuer Saxony (Albertinian Line), Electorate of
Year 1630-1656
Type Standard circulation coin
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Obverse description Armored half-length bust of Elector John George I facing right, depicted in elaborate articulated plate armor with a plumed helmet held at his side and a sword raised vertically in his right hand. A smaller electoral shield appears to the right of the figure within the inner circle. The surrounding legend reads IOHAN GEORG D G DVX SAX IVL CLIV ET MONT in Latin capital letters, running clockwise within a beaded border.
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Obverse lettering IOHAN GEORG D G DVX SAX IVL CLIV ET MONT
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Additional information

John George I ruled Saxony through the catastrophic middle decades of the Thirty Years' War, and his monetary policy was as tortured as his political navigation of the conflict. Saxony's mints were under enormous pressure throughout the 1630s and 1640s — the war disrupted silver supply from the Erzgebirge mines, inflated production costs, and the Kipper und Wipper debasement crisis of the preceding decade had already badly damaged public trust in Saxon coinage.

John George's long alliance with the Habsburgs, then his defection to France and Sweden under the Treaty of Kösen in 1645, created political instability that is effectively documented in the erratic mint output of these years.

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