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1 Ferding - Hermann II Wesel Reverse key up
| Issuer | Bishopric of Dorpat |
|---|---|
| Year | 1552-1555 |
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| Composition | Silver (.578) |
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| Obverse lettering | HERMA · DEI · G · EP · TA · (Translation: Hermann Dei Gratia Episcopus Darpatensis Hermann, with God`s grace, Bishop of Dorpat) |
| Reverse description | A shield at centre bearing the combined arms of the Bishopric of Dorpat: a crossed sword and episcopal key in saltire, with the key positioned upward, enclosed within a beaded inner circle. The charge is rendered in a bold Gothic style consistent with hammered Baltic coinage of the period. A Latin legend encircles the field, incorporating the date of issue within or above the shield depending on type. |
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| Additional information |
The Bishopric of Dorpat — a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire centered on present-day Tartu in Estonia — issued coinage under increasingly desperate circumstances during Hermann II's episcopate. By the early 1550s, the entire Livonian Order was fracturing under the pressure of Russian territorial ambitions, and Dorpat itself would fall to Ivan the Terrible's forces in 1558, effectively ending the bishopric's existence within three years of this coin's latest possible minting date.
The "key up" reverse variety distinguishes this piece from the more common key-down orientation within the Haljak sequence — a die distinction that collectors of Livonian coinage track carefully, as the two variants do not appear with equal frequency in surviving examples.