George William's reign over Brandenburg-Prussia ended in 1640, just one year after this thaler was struck, and his tenure is remembered as one of the most politically humiliating in Hohenzollern history. The Thirty Years' War consumed his territory throughout his reign — Swedish and Imperial armies alternately occupied, looted, and garrisoned Brandenburg, leaving the Elector with little genuine authority over his own lands. His chronic indecisiveness and dependence on the minister Adam von Schwarzenberg, who favored the Habsburg cause, left Brandenburg economically devastated.
The Olding GW#22 designation distinguishes this as the second die variant within the type.
George William's reign over Brandenburg-Prussia ended in 1640, just one year after this thaler was struck, and his tenure is remembered as one of the most politically humiliating in Hohenzollern history. The Thirty Years' War consumed his territory throughout his reign — Swedish and Imperial armies alternately occupied, looted, and garrisoned Brandenburg, leaving the Elector with little genuine authority over his own lands. His chronic indecisiveness and dependence on the minister Adam von Schwarzenberg, who favored the Habsburg cause, left Brandenburg economically devastated.
The Olding GW#22 designation distinguishes this as the second die variant within the type.