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1 Ducat - Melchior of Hatzfeldt-Gleichen
| Issuer | County of Hatzfeld |
|---|---|
| Year | 1666 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The Virgin Mary, crowned with a radiate nimbus, is depicted seated atop a cluster of clouds, holding the Christ Child on her lap; both figures are shown in three-quarter view with the Child appearing to hold a rosary or orb. The composition is rendered in a devotional Baroque style characteristic of Catholic Counter-Reformation iconography. Beneath the central group, the armorial shield of the Hatzfeldt family is visible on a cloud base. A milled outer border frames the design, and the surrounding circular Latin legend, partially inverted at the base per the die orientation, reads: AVXILIATRIX SPES CONSILIORVM ET DEXTERAE MEAE, translating as 'Helper, hope of my counsels and of my right hand.' Stars or pellets serve as legend punctuation throughout. |
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| Additional information |
Melchior von Hatzfeldt-Gleichen was one of the most decorated Imperial commanders of the Thirty Years' War, credited with key victories at Herbsthausen in 1645. He retired from military life in 1659 having accumulated enormous wealth and territorial influence, and it was in this late period that the county exercised its minting rights with issues like this ducat. Small territorial coinages of this type were struck in tiny quantities for presentation, payment of obligations, or simple assertion of comital privilege — not circulation.
The county's minting activity was brief. Melchior died in 1658, making an attribution to him on a 1666 issue potentially posthumous — possibly struck under his successor invoking his name or titles.