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1 Thaler - Peter von Biron Trial strike
| Issuer | Courland and Semigallia, Duchy of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1780 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | D · G · PETRUS · IN · LIV · CURL · ET · SEMGAL · DUX (Translation: With God`s grace, Peter, Duke of Livonia, Courland, and Semigallia) |
| Reverse description | Central composition featuring the combined arms of the Duchy of Courland: a shield bearing an eagle quartered with a shield depicting the mounted horseman (Pahonia), the whole surmounted by a ducal crown. The heraldic achievement is flanked by decorative elements and enclosed by a circular monetary legend. The date 1780 appears within the reverse legend, identifying this as a trial strike referencing the Albert Thaler standard. |
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| Additional information |
Peter von Biron was the last Duke of Courland, a Polish vassal state squeezed between the Baltic and the ambitions of Catherine the Great. This trial strike in lead dates to a period when the duchy's monetary independence was increasingly nominal — within a decade, Peter would be pressured into ceding Courland to Russia entirely, abdicating in 1795 for a cash settlement and estates in Silesia. Lead trials of ducal thalers are seldom preserved; most were workshop pieces discarded after die approval, which makes survivors genuinely scarce in any condition.