Catalog
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| Issuer | Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel |
|---|---|
| Year | 1704 |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | D:G:RUDOLPH:AUGUSTUS DUX BR:& LUNEB: R.B. |
| Reverse description | The entire reverse field is occupied by a multi-line Latin funerary inscription in capital letters, commemorating the life and death of Duke Rudolph Augustus. The text records his birth date (16 May 1627), the commencement of his reign (17 September 1666), and his death (26 January 1704), followed by a eulogy declaring that he lives on after death and that the memory of this pious, just, and wise prince endures in the hearts of his subjects through the ages and the fame of his deeds. The inscription concludes at the base with three ornamental floral or star stops arranged symmetrically. There is no surrounding border legend; the inscription fills the field from rim to rim in the style of a memorial tablet. |
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| Additional information |
Rudolph Augustus, the elder of the two co-ruling dukes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, died in January 1704 after a reign defined largely by his deference to his younger brother Anthony Ulrich, who held the real political and cultural initiative between them. These death thalers — Sterbetaler in the German tradition — were struck as commemorative mourning pieces rather than circulating currency, a convention well established in the Brunswick mints by this period.
Anthony Ulrich would outlive his brother by nearly two decades, converting to Catholicism in 1710 to secure advantageous dynastic marriages for his grandchildren.