Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Thaler
| Issuer | Kempten, Free city of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1537-1539 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Thaler |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Central crowned and armored bust of Emperor Charles V facing right, depicted within a beaded inner circle, wearing a crown and plate armor with gauntleted hand visible at lower right. The effigy is rendered in the robust Germanic style typical of early sixteenth-century hammered coinage. Three small escutcheons representing Austria, Burgundy, and Tyrol are positioned at left, right, and base of the central shield. A crowned imperial eagle surmounts the central shield bearing the arms of Kempten. The circular Latin legend is separated from the central device by a beaded border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | MONETA: NOVA: CIVITATIS: CAMPIDONEN. |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Kempten was among the smallest of the Free Imperial Cities, and its thalers from this period reflect the peculiar minting privilege granted to cities of minimal political weight. The late 1530s were the height of Reformation tensions in the Swabian region; Kempten had officially adopted Lutheranism in 1527, putting it at odds with the powerful Kempten Abbey that shared — and contested — the city's territory for centuries. A city minting its own thaler during this period was making a statement about autonomous authority as much as economic necessity.
The Davenport reference GT I#9359 places this among the earliest thaler-sized issues from Kempten, a short-lived series.