1 Thaler - John II

John II of Simmern ruled the duchy from 1509 until his death in 1557, and these thalers were struck in the final two years of his life. The Palatinate-Simmern line was a cadet branch of the Wittelsbach dynasty, and while never among the most powerful Rhine territories, Simmern produced coinage that punched above its political weight during the mid-sixteenth century silver boom driven by Joachimstal and the expanding Imperial thaler standard.

The two-year window of production makes extended die study rewarding. Davenport's classification under GT I#9630 acknowledges the type without fully resolving the die sequence.