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1 Groschen - John George I Death
| Issuer | Dresden Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1656 |
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| Reference(s) | KM# 697, Cl/Kahnt#359, Kohl#219 |
| Obverse description | Bust of Johann Georg I, Elector of Saxony, facing right, depicted with a beard and moustache, wearing an elaborate ruff collar and armoured or richly draped shoulders in the late Renaissance style. The portrait is rendered in high relief within a beaded inner circle. A circular Latin legend surrounds the effigy, reading IOHAN·GEORG·I·SAXON·DVX·ET·ELECT, identifying the sitter as Johann Georg I, Duke and Elector of Saxony. The coin is struck by the hammered technique, imparting a characteristic irregular flan. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | IOHAN·GEORG·I·SAXON·DVX·ET·ELECT (Translation: Johann Georg I duke of Saxony and elector) |
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| Additional information |
John George I of Saxony died in October 1656 after a reign of nearly four decades, during which he had navigated — not always skillfully — the catastrophic Thirty Years' War. Saxony's decision to switch sides against Sweden in 1635 shaped the final decade of that conflict and left the electorate economically hollowed out by the time of his death. Memorial groschen of this type were a standard Saxony funerary coinage convention, struck at Dresden to mark the passing of the elector and distributed as mourning pieces.
The Clauss/Kahnt reference places this squarely within the documented Dresden death coinage sequence for the mid-seventeenth century.