Frederick William and his brother John administered Saxe-Weimar jointly following the partition arrangements within the Ernestine branch of the Wettins — a dynastic house that had been parceling and re-parceling its territories since the Leipzig Division of 1485. Joint-rule coinages of this type required both rulers to be named, a political necessity that complicated die production and created a compressed window of issue whenever the co-regency changed composition through death or further subdivision.
Frederick William died in 1602, ending the joint administration. Pieces struck across the three-year window of this issue show variation in die workmanship consistent with more than one engraver.
Frederick William and his brother John administered Saxe-Weimar jointly following the partition arrangements within the Ernestine branch of the Wettins — a dynastic house that had been parceling and re-parceling its territories since the Leipzig Division of 1485. Joint-rule coinages of this type required both rulers to be named, a political necessity that complicated die production and created a compressed window of issue whenever the co-regency changed composition through death or further subdivision.
Frederick William died in 1602, ending the joint administration. Pieces struck across the three-year window of this issue show variation in die workmanship consistent with more than one engraver.