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1 Grossus - Ernst Johann von Biron Mitau
| Issuer | Duchy of Courland and Semigallia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1763 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Reverse description | Crowned baroque coat of arms of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia at center, featuring a quartered shield with an eagle and a horse rampant as principal charges, set within an ornate cartouche. The date 1763 is divided by the shield, with 17 to the left and 63 to the right, positioned beneath the crown. The surrounding legend reads IN · LIVONIA · CVR · ET · SEMIGAL, denoting the territorial titles of the duchy. A beaded inner border frames the entire composition. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Ernst Johann von Biron's return to Courland in 1763 was itself an improbable event. Arrested in 1740 on orders from Anna Leopoldovna just weeks after the death of Empress Anna — whose favorite and likely lover he had been for two decades — he spent twenty-two years in Siberian exile before Catherine the Great restored him to the duchy he had nominally ruled since 1737. This grossus belongs to the brief window after that restoration, when Biron, then in his seventies, finally exercised actual ducal authority rather than ruling by proxy from a Russian prison.