Catalog
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| Issuer | Bavaria, Electorate of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1756-1762 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 3.49 g |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Elector Maximilian III Joseph facing right, with flowing curled wig, the portrait rendered in high relief in the Baroque manner. The circumferential Latin legend is divided by the bust, reading D • G • MAX • IOS • U • on the left and B • D • S • R • I • A • & E • L • L • on the right, abbreviating his full electoral and ducal titles. The effigy displays fine engraving detail in the treatment of the coat and lace cravat. |
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| Mintage | 1756 - MDCCLVI - 1760 - MDCCLX - 1762 - MDCCLXII - |
| Additional information |
The "Donaugold" designation is not decorative — it specifies that the gold was sourced from alluvial deposits along the Danube and its Bavarian tributaries, a practice the Wittelsbach court promoted intermittently as a matter of regional prestige and economic self-sufficiency. The river gold was panned under electoral license, assayed separately, and struck into ducats distinguishable in the records from imported bullion issues.
Maximilian III Joseph's reign saw Bavaria still recovering from the ruinous War of Austrian Succession, during which Bavarian territory had been occupied and the electoral treasury badly depleted. These years of issue, 1756–1762, overlap almost exactly with the Seven Years' War.