Mansfeld-Artern was in its death throes by 1623. The county had fractured repeatedly through inheritance, and this joint issue under Volrat VI, Wolfgang III, and John George represents one of the final gasps of the Artern line before Imperial pressure — intensified by the Thirty Years' War then entering its most destructive phase — forced the consolidation and eventual confiscation of Mansfeld territories altogether. The counts had backed the wrong side, and their minting privileges were already politically precarious.
Two-year issues of this type are uncommon in the Mansfeld series, suggesting interrupted production rather than a planned run.
Mansfeld-Artern was in its death throes by 1623. The county had fractured repeatedly through inheritance, and this joint issue under Volrat VI, Wolfgang III, and John George represents one of the final gasps of the Artern line before Imperial pressure — intensified by the Thirty Years' War then entering its most destructive phase — forced the consolidation and eventual confiscation of Mansfeld territories altogether. The counts had backed the wrong side, and their minting privileges were already politically precarious.
Two-year issues of this type are uncommon in the Mansfeld series, suggesting interrupted production rather than a planned run.