1 Ducat - Johann Ehrenreich Trial Strike

Trial strikes in zinc were a standard proofing step at several Habsburg-adjacent mints in the early eighteenth century, used to check die alignment and relief before committing to gold. That this example survives at all is unusual — zinc proofs were working tools, not collectibles, and most were discarded or melted once the production dies were approved.

The Sprinzenstein family held comital rank within the Holy Roman Empire, and their right to strike ducats was a jealously maintained seigneurial privilege by 1717, already under sustained pressure from Viennese centralization efforts under Charles VI.