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1 Ducat - János Zsigmond
| Issuer | Transylvania, Principality of |
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| Year | 1562-1565 |
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| Currency | Thaler (1526-1780) |
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| Obverse description | Central field occupied by the quartered royal arms of Hungary and Transylvania within a shield, displaying alternating barry and lion passant quarters with an eagle displayed at centre. The shield is set against a plain field and surrounded by a beaded inner circle. The date appears in the upper portion of the legend, with the circular Latin legend reading around the periphery identifying the ruler by name and title. The coin is struck in the hammered tradition, exhibiting characteristic irregular flan edges and a slightly uneven strike consistent with mid-sixteenth-century Transylvanian minting practice. |
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| Reverse description | The enthroned figure of the Virgin Mary as Patrona Hungariae occupies the central field, depicted facing, crowned and nimbate, holding the Christ Child on her left arm and a sceptre in her right hand. The Virgin is seated on an elaborate throne, rendered in the Gothic-influenced style typical of Hungarian and Transylvanian ducats of this period. A beaded inner circle frames the central motif. The surrounding circular Latin legend invokes the Virgin as Patron of Transylvania and Hungary, reading continuously around the periphery. The overall composition follows the longstanding Patrona Hungariae iconographic tradition established on Hungarian gold coinage. |
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| Additional information |
János Zsigmond Zápolya ruled Transylvania as prince — though he styled himself "elected king of Hungary" — in the fractured aftermath of the 1526 Battle of Mohács, which had split the Hungarian kingdom three ways between the Habsburgs, the Ottomans, and his own Zápolya line. These ducats were struck during the years he held that uneasy equilibrium, propped up by Ottoman backing against persistent Habsburg pressure. The Resch reference numbers alone betray the cataloging complexity here: multiple die marriages across the emission period produce several distinct varieties, none of them common.