1 Schilling - Wolter von Plettenberg Riga, smooth bottom with flat top, left shaded

Wolter von Plettenberg served as Landmaster of the Livonian Order for an extraordinary 51 years, longer than any other in the Order's history, and this issue dates to the final year of his life. His decades-long tenure included a decisive victory over Ivan III's forces at the Battle of Smolina in 1502, which secured Livonian independence from Muscovite expansion for another half-century. The billon content reflects chronic silver shortages that plagued Baltic minting throughout the 1520s and 1530s, as trade disruptions from the Reformation crisis drained bullion reserves across the region.