Catalog
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| Issuer | Brunswick-Calenberg, Principality of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1577-1581 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 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 displays the Imperial double-headed eagle of the Holy Roman Empire, with wings spread, each head crowned, and the breast bearing an escutcheon with the orb or imperial arms; the orb at the center bears the numeral 74 indicating the Reichsthaler denomination value. An imperial crown surmounts the eagle, from which hangs the chain of the Golden Fleece. A beaded inner border frames the device, with the surrounding Latin legend RVDOL(FVS). (Z.) ROM. IMP. SE(M)P. AVGV(STVS). identifying Emperor Rudolf II as Holy Roman Emperor. |
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| Additional information |
Erich III ruled Brunswick-Calenberg for less than a decade before dying without legitimate heirs in 1584, collapsing his branch of the Welf dynasty and triggering a succession dispute that ultimately folded the principality into Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. These thalers were struck across a five-year window during which Erich was already maneuvering creditors and mortgaging territorial revenues — the coins themselves partly a tool for meeting financial obligations to the Empire.
Davenport's German Talers attribution places this firmly within the broader Welf minting tradition of the period, where multiple related principalities struck near-identical weight standards, making die-sharing arrangements between mints a documented occurrence.