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1 Thaler - John Frederick and Philip I
| Issuer | Saxony (Ernestinian Line), Electorate of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1542 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 28.93 g |
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| Reverse description | Half-length armored bust of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, facing three-quarters to the left, wearing plate armor with a ruffled collar and holding a baton or scepter in his right hand. The figure is portrayed in high relief in the Renaissance hammered style. Three heraldic shields are arranged around the lower field, with additional armorial devices interspersed along the border. The circumferential Latin legend, drawn from Virgil's Aeneid, reads PARCERE SVBIECTIS ET DEBELLARE SUPERBOS, with the mint and administrative initials 4 Z PH LA G appearing in the field. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
John Frederick I and Philip I of Hesse were the two principal architects of the Schmalkaldic League, the Protestant military alliance formed in 1531 as a direct response to the Edict of Worms. Joint coinage of this kind — pairing an Elector of Saxony with a Landgrave of Hesse — functioned as much as a political declaration as a monetary instrument. The alliance would hold until the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547, where Charles V crushed the League and captured John Frederick, stripping him of the electoral dignity entirely.
The 1542 date falls at a moment of peak tension, just years before that collapse.