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1 Thaler Wiedertäufer
| Issuer | City of Münster |
|---|---|
| Year | 1534 |
| Type | Commemorative circulation coin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse field is entirely occupied by a seven-line inscription in raised relief, set within a beaded border, with the surrounding legend continuing the biblical quotation in Low German separated by star stops. The central text reads NICHT IN GAEN / DAT WORT IS FLEISCH / GEWORDEN / VN WANET / IN VNS, quoting the Gospel of John on the Incarnation. The outer circular legend completes the passage from John 3:5, stating that one who is not born of water and spirit cannot enter the Kingdom. As on the obverse, the design is purely epigraphic, with no figural or heraldic elements, consistent with Anabaptist rejection of traditional iconography. The bold, irregular letterforms and star punctuation marks are characteristic of the hastily produced coinage of the Münster Anabaptist commune of 1534. |
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| Mint | Münster Mint |
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| Additional information |
Münster's Anabaptist theocracy under Jan van Leiden lasted barely sixteen months before the prince-bishop's forces retook the city in June 1535 and executed the leadership by public torture. This thaler was struck in 1534 during that radical interlude, when the city had expelled its Catholics and Lutherans alike, abolished private property, and declared itself the New Jerusalem. The Anabaptist council controlled the mint as part of its broader seizure of civic infrastructure.
Surviving examples are genuinely rare — the regime that struck them was obliterated, and the victorious besiegers had little reason to preserve its coinage.