1 Gulden Siege issue

Magdeburg struck this gulden during its prolonged conflict with Elector Maurice of Saxony, who besieged the city beginning in 1550 on behalf of Emperor Charles V following Magdeburg's refusal to accept the Augsburg Interim — the imperial decree attempting to force Lutheranism back toward Catholic practice. The city held out for over a year, and emergency coinage was produced to maintain local commerce and pay defenders when normal trade was severed.

Siege issues from Magdeburg are among the more historically loaded emergency coinages of the Reformation period. The city eventually negotiated a capitulation in November 1551, making this gulden a product of the final months of resistance.