Catalog
1 Ducat - Jakob von Salza
| Issuer | Bishopric of Breslau (Silesia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1525 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Reverse description | A nimbed figure of Saint John the Baptist is depicted facing, standing in high relief at the centre of the coin, rendered in the late Gothic hammered style typical of early sixteenth-century Silesian coinage. The saint is shown in flowing robes, holding or blessing the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) before him. The Latin legend MVNVS CESA MAXIMI 1525 encircles the figure between beaded borders, referencing the imperial gift or privilege of Emperor Maximilian I. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Jakob von Salza became Bishop of Breslau in 1520 and navigated one of the most turbulent decades in Silesian ecclesiastical history — Luther's theses were already circulating, and Breslau itself would become a Protestant city within years of this coin's striking. That a Catholic bishop was still issuing gold ducats in 1525 speaks to the pace at which institutional authority lagged behind popular religious conversion on the ground.
Fr#472 is a genuinely rare type. Silesian episcopal gold from the early Reformation period survives in small numbers, partly because ecclesiastical minting rights in the region were repeatedly contested and production runs were short.