1 Goldgulden - Philip

Philip I of Solms-Lich struck this gulden in 1623, the second year of the catastrophic currency debasement crisis known as the Kipper- und Wipperzeit, when scores of minor German territorial lords raced to exploit imperial monetary disorder by issuing debased coinage. A gold piece from this moment is something of a paradox — fine gold issues were largely immune to the debasement frenzy, but they emerge from the same administrative apparatus profiting from it.

Solms-Lich was a tiny Wetterau county with limited mint output. Fr#3297 is among the rarer gulden attributable to the Solms line, with surviving examples appearing infrequently at auction.