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1 Thaler - August Death of August
| Issuer | Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel |
|---|---|
| Year | 1666 |
| Type | Commemorative circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | The obverse presents an entirely epigraphic design without a portrait, featuring a large central field filled with a multi-line Latin inscription recording the biographical data of Duke August the Younger of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. The text is arranged in horizontal lines across the field, detailing his birth on 10 April 1579, his reign of thirty-one years over his duchies and counties, his death on 17 September 1666, and his total lifespan of eighty-seven years, five months, and seven days. A circular outer legend running along the inner border completes the ducal titulature, reading DEI GRATIA AUGUSTUS DUX BRUNOVICENSIUM ET LUNAEBURGENS. The coin is struck in high relief with bold, well-spaced Roman lettering throughout, typical of the commemorative memorial thaler tradition of the seventeenth-century Lower Saxon mints. The overall design serves as a numismatic epitaph, with no figural imagery, emphasizing the solemn memorial character of the issue. |
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| Reverse description | The reverse displays a large, dramatically rendered bare tree with spreading leafless branches occupying the central field, its roots resting upon a human skull placed at the base, serving as a powerful memento mori emblem alluding to mortality and the transience of earthly glory. Short Latin phrases are interspersed among the branches of the tree, reading QUAE LAETA FRONDE VIREBAM (which flourished with joyful foliage) and RIGUI NUC (now withered), reinforcing the emblematic message of the design. A two-part outer circular legend surrounds the central device, divided and reading SIC TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDI (thus passes the glory of the world) and OMNIA NON NISI PROVIDO ET VEGETO CONSILIO (all things only through prudent and vigorous counsel). The legend is separated by star ornaments and runs clockwise around the milled border. The composition is characteristic of the allegorical emblem tradition widely employed on German memorial thalers of the mid-seventeenth century. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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