Strasbourg in 1668 occupied an uneasy position — nominally a Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire, but increasingly within the French sphere of influence following the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Louis XIV would absorb the city outright just thirteen years later, in 1681, ending its independent coinage tradition entirely. This guldentaler belongs to the final chapter of that autonomy.
Strasbourg in 1668 occupied an uneasy position — nominally a Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire, but increasingly within the French sphere of influence following the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Louis XIV would absorb the city outright just thirteen years later, in 1681, ending its independent coinage tradition entirely. This guldentaler belongs to the final chapter of that autonomy.