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1 Gold Florin - Ferdinand of Bavaria Bust
| Issuer | Liege, Prince-bishopric of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1612-1617 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Ferdinand of Bavaria, Prince-Bishop of Liege, facing left, with shoulder-length hair and a beard, wearing an elaborately ruffled collar and episcopal vestments rendered in fine relief. The effigy is rendered in a naturalistic early Baroque style characteristic of early 17th-century Low Countries coinage. The surrounding Latin legend reads continuously around the coin's periphery, separated from the central device by a thin inner circle. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Ferdinand of Bavaria was appointed Prince-Bishop of Liège in 1612 through naked dynastic maneuvering by his family, who already held Cologne — giving the Wittelsbachs effective control over a chain of ecclesiastical territories along the Rhine. He was 26 and had no particular religious vocation. The florin series struck under his early reign reflects a functional need to maintain Liège's independent monetary presence against the gravitational pull of Habsburg-controlled coinage flooding the Spanish Netherlands.
The .986 fineness places this among the purer gold issues of the period, consistent with Florentine florin standards still observed in the ecclesiastical mints of the lower Rhine.