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1 Groat 'Mariagroschen'
| Issuer | City of Nijmegen (Dutch States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1544-1546 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 21 mm |
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| Obverse description | Central field features the imperial eagle of Nijmegen displayed with wings spread, rendered in the late Gothic hammered style characteristic of mid-16th-century Low Countries municipal coinage. The eagle is shown facing forward with detailed feathering across the wings and a crescent-shaped element visible at the base. The device is contained within an inner beaded border, with the Latin circumscription INSIGNIA ⸰ VRB ⸰ IMPERIA ⸰ NOVI running along the outer legend band, identifying this as the arms of the Imperial City of Nijmegen. The coin exhibits the irregular flan and variable relief typical of hammered silver production of the period. |
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| Obverse lettering | INSIGNIA ⸰ VRB ⸰ IMPERIA ⸰ NOVI (Translation: Insignia of the imperial city of Nijmegen.) |
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| Additional information |
Nijmegen occupied an awkward political position in the 1540s — nominally a free imperial city with its own minting rights, yet caught between Habsburg consolidation under Charles V and the persistent claims of the Duchy of Guelders, which had only been formally absorbed into the Habsburg Netherlands in 1543 after decades of conflict. The Mariagroschen type was a Low Countries adaptation of the north German groat tradition, circulating widely across the Rhine delta region where denominational compatibility with neighboring monetary systems was a practical necessity.
The vdChijs reference places this among a small cluster of municipal issues struck in the immediate aftermath of the Guelders annexation, before Charles V's currency ordinances fully standardized the coinage of the seventeen provinces.