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1 Goldgulden Countermark
| Issuer | Riga, Free city of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1561-1581 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Goldgulden |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse depicts the Madonna, wearing an open crown, seated above a crescent and holding the Christ Child in her right arm; beneath the figure appears the Polish Jagiellonian eagle without a shield, all contained within a pearl circle. A countermark of crossed keys — the civic arms of Riga — is applied in the field. The entire composition is encircled by a Latin legend denoting the issuing authority of the host coin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents a full-length effigy of the crowned King Saint Ladislaus standing facing, clad in royal robes and holding a long sceptre; an orb divides the mintmark in the field. The design is characteristic of Hungarian royal goldgulden coinage of the early sixteenth century, executed in the hammered technique. A Latin legend surrounding the figure identifies the saint by name and title, with the date 1525 and the Kremnitz mint mark K-B incorporated into the inscription. |
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| Additional information |
Riga applied countermarks to foreign gold gulden circulating within the city as a form of municipal validation — confirming weight and fineness acceptable for local trade without the expense of reminting. The practice was common among Baltic trading centers operating within the Hanseatic commercial network, where coin provenance mattered less than guaranteed bullion value.
The twenty-year span of this countermark type brackets a period of acute political instability for Riga: the dissolution of the Livonian Confederation following the Livonian War forced the city into Lithuanian suzerainty in 1561 under the Privilegium Sigismundi Augusti.