1 Thaler - John Casimir

John Casimir ruled the Palatinate not as Elector but as administrator — his brother Ludwig VI held the electorship, leaving John Casimir in the politically awkward position of governing the Pfalz-Lautern district while commanding considerable military influence abroad. He spent much of the late 1570s deeply entangled in the religious wars of the Low Countries and France, financing Protestant causes with money he frequently didn't have. The thalers of 1578–1579 were struck precisely during this period of aggressive foreign adventurism, before Ludwig's death in 1583 briefly handed John Casimir the regency of the entire Palatinate.