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1 Thaler - John George I Centenary of the Reformation
| Issuer | Saxony (Albertinian Line), Electorate of |
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| Year | 1617 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Johann Georg I, Elector of Saxony, facing right, occupying the upper half of the field. Below the effigy, the quartered coat of arms of Saxony, Jülich, Cleve, and Berg is displayed with the electoral shield at center. A continuous Latin legend encircles the design, interrupted by the split date 16-17 placed on either side of the arms. |
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| Reverse lettering | SECVLVM LVTHERANVM FRID III 15 17 (Translation: Lutheran Century Friedrich III) |
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| Additional information |
The 1617 Reformation centenary was the first mass commemorative coin event in German history — dozens of Protestant states struck special thalers that year, and Saxony, as the territory where Luther had operated under the protection of the Elector Friedrich the Wise, held particular symbolic weight in the celebrations. John George I commissioned multiple varieties for the occasion, with at least four distinct die combinations now catalogued under the Schnee and Cahn-Kahnt references.
The centenary fell during the early tensions that would ignite the Thirty Years' War just one year later in 1618, lending these pieces an unintended historical irony — minted in celebration of Protestant consolidation at the precise moment that consolidation was about to be violently tested.