1 Goldgulden - Wolter von Plettenberg Riga

Wolter von Plettenberg is the only Livonian Order master ever granted the title of Imperial Prince by the Holy Roman Emperor — a distinction conferred by Charles V in 1530, just two years after this gulden was struck. The coin therefore predates that elevation, issued when Plettenberg was consolidating his position as the most powerful figure in the eastern Baltic following his decisive defeats of Russian forces at the battles of Lake Smolina and the Siritsa River in 1502.

By 1528, Riga was operating under increasing Lutheran pressure, and Plettenberg had already extended formal religious tolerance to the city — a pragmatic concession that kept the Order's political authority intact even as its spiritual foundations were fracturing.