Anthony Ulrich had ruled Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel for decades before finally converting to Catholicism in 1710, a move that scandalized Protestant northern Germany but opened diplomatic doors to Vienna and Madrid. These thalers predate that conversion by only a few years, struck during the War of the Spanish Succession when the Duke was actively repositioning his dynastic alliances — his grandson would eventually marry a Habsburg archduchess. The Welter 2302 attribution places this within a tightly documented sequence of his later thaler production.
Anthony Ulrich was also one of the more prolific German Baroque novelists of his age, an unusual distinction for a reigning prince.
Anthony Ulrich had ruled Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel for decades before finally converting to Catholicism in 1710, a move that scandalized Protestant northern Germany but opened diplomatic doors to Vienna and Madrid. These thalers predate that conversion by only a few years, struck during the War of the Spanish Succession when the Duke was actively repositioning his dynastic alliances — his grandson would eventually marry a Habsburg archduchess. The Welter 2302 attribution places this within a tightly documented sequence of his later thaler production.
Anthony Ulrich was also one of the more prolific German Baroque novelists of his age, an unusual distinction for a reigning prince.