1 Ducat

Dortmund's status as a Free Imperial City gave it the right to strike coinage under the Holy Roman Empire, a privilege the city exercised sporadically and largely for prestige rather than commercial necessity. By 1742, the city's actual political and economic weight had long been in decline — it had been occupied by Brandenburg-Prussia in 1609 and never fully recovered its medieval prominence. Ducats like this one were struck more as ceremonial affirmations of imperial standing than as circulating trade pieces.

The Franconian ducat standard at .986 fine was the benchmark for imperial gold coinage, and Dortmund adhered to it precisely.