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1 Thaler - John Philip of Schönborn Zwittertaler
| Issuer | Bishopric of Würzburg |
|---|---|
| Year | 1649 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Thaler |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Armored bust of Bishop Johann Philipp von Schönborn facing slightly to the right, with long flowing hair and a short beard, wearing elaborately decorated armor with a pectoral cross visible at the chest. Below the bust, a crowned heraldic shield bearing the quartered arms of the Bishopric of Würzburg and the personal arms of the Schönborn family is depicted. The portrait is rendered in a high-relief Baroque style characteristic of mid-seventeenth-century German ecclesiastical coinage. The legend, divided by the bust, reads IO:PHIL.D:G:S.SEDMOG.EP SPI:P:G:AC:P:EE.H:F.O:DVX, referencing Johann Philipp's titles as Bishop of Speyer and Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. The entire design is framed by a finely beaded inner border. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The Zwittertaler — literally "hybrid thaler" — is a mule struck from dies belonging to two different issuing authorities or coin types. This example, issued under John Philip of Schönborn shortly after the Peace of Westphalia ended thirty years of catastrophic warfare across the German lands, combines mismatched dies in what was almost certainly a deliberate mint decision rather than an error. Post-war Würzburg faced severe metal shortages and administrative disruption; reusing available dies from different series was an expedient solution with precedent across multiple German mints of the period.
John Philip held the sees of Würzburg, Mainz, and Worms simultaneously — a concentration of ecclesiastical power that made his mints unusually prolific in the late 1640s.