1 Ducat 'Rheingold-Dukat' - Emmerich Joseph of Breidbach-Bürresheim

Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach-Bürresheim commissioned this so-called Rheingold-Dukat from gold panned directly from the Rhine — a practice the Mainz archbishops maintained as both a genuine metallurgical source and a pointed assertion of territorial rights over the river. The Rheingold designation is not decorative; it distinguishes these pieces from standard ducats and reflects a documented procurement tradition tied to the electoral dignity of Mainz.

Emmerich Joseph died in 1774, making 1772 issues from relatively late in his tenure. He was among the more reform-minded of the late imperial prince-bishops, corresponding with Enlightenment figures and loosening some ecclesiastical restrictions in his territories.