1/4 Thaler - Leopold of Austria Klippe

Murbach was one of the wealthiest imperial abbeys in the Holy Roman Empire, holding minting rights that were exercised only sporadically — and the klippe format here signals this was almost certainly struck as a presentation piece rather than anything intended for commerce. Leopold of Austria, as commendatory abbot from 1614, was simultaneously Bishop of Passau, Strasbourg, and Halberstadt, accumulating ecclesiastical titles at a pace that had more to do with Habsburg territorial strategy than pastoral concern.

The square-cut flan is hand-cut, and centering inconsistencies between specimens are the norm rather than the exception.