1 Goldgulden - Frederick I

Frederick I of the Palatinate — known as "the Victorious" — was among the most aggressive territorial expansionists among the German princes of the fifteenth century, financing much of his warfare through the revenues of the Rhine tolls and the productivity of the Heidelberg mint. These gulden were struck during the years immediately preceding his formal acquisition of the Electoral dignity, which he secured by force and political maneuvering rather than inheritance. The Fr#1979 attribution places this piece within a tightly defined emission, with Felke#1343 distinguishing it from closely related dies of the period.