1 Goldgulden - John Philip of Schönborn Neujahrsgulden

The "Neujahrsgulden" — New Year's gulden — was a German tradition in which ecclesiastical and secular princes distributed gold pieces as gifts to courtiers, officials, and favored subjects at the start of the calendar year. John Philip von Schönborn had only recently been elected Prince-Bishop of Würzburg in 1642, the same year this piece was struck, making this among the earliest coins of his reign. He would go on to become one of the most politically consequential churchmen of the mid-seventeenth century, instrumental in negotiating the Peace of Westphalia six years later.

The .770 fineness reflects standard Rhenish goldgulden alloy practice of the period, not a debasement.