1/4 Ducat - Ernest Louis

Ernest Louis, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, was an enthusiastic patron of Baroque culture who stretched his treasury financing an opera house and court musicians — Handel visited Darmstadt in this period. Quarter ducats of this reign were struck in small quantities as presentation and New Year's gift pieces rather than for general circulation, which explains why survivors tend to appear in better condition than their size might suggest.