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1 Mattier - Martin
| Issuer | Regenstein, County of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1594-1597 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Central field features a prominent numeral '2' enclosed within a plain annular circle, surmounted by a small cross, all set within a beaded inner border. This device denotes the denomination of 2 Kreuzer. The surrounding legend in Latin, EIN MATTIER Z. VFN. MAR., identifies the piece as one Mattier struck for the Blankenburg mint, and runs around the periphery between two beaded borders. The flan is characteristically irregular, consistent with hammered coinage of the period. |
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| Additional information |
The counts of Regenstein, a minor Harz region dynasty whose territorial ambitions consistently outran their means, issued these small silver pieces during a period of acute financial strain in the 1590s. The county was by then deeply mortgaged and effectively a spent force — it would pass permanently to Brandenburg-Prussia within a generation. That desperation likely explains why Regenstein was still striking fractional currency at all: cash was short, local coinage filled gaps that larger powers had no incentive to address.
The Mattier denomination itself was peculiar to the Harz and surrounding regions, a ghost of earlier bracteate monetary culture persisting into an era that had largely moved on.