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1 Thaler - William IV Williamsburg Castle
| Issuer | Saxe-Weimar, Duchy of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1662 |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Duke Wilhelm IV of Saxe-Weimar facing right, with long flowing hair and a short beard, rendered in a robust Baroque engraving style. The portrait is positioned centrally within the field, truncated at the shoulder. A circular legend in Gothic blackletter script runs continuously around the periphery, separated from the coin's milled border. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Detailed panoramic view of Wilhelmsburg Castle depicted in three-quarter perspective, showing the multi-storey Renaissance palace with its distinctive domed tower and steepled turret, set against a hillside backdrop. In the foreground, the River Ilm is rendered with a small boat and figures along the bank, conveying a lively topographical scene. Radiating sunbeams emanate from the upper right corner of the field. The inscription 'Wilhelmsburg' appears in Gothic script across the upper field, with the date below to the left. The entire composition is enclosed within a milled border. |
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| Additional information |
William IV ruled Saxe-Weimar during one of the most fractured periods in German territorial history — the duchy had been repeatedly subdivided among Ernestine heirs, leaving rulers presiding over diminished, economically strained lands barely recovered from the Thirty Years' War. The Williamsburg Castle issue of 1662 served a specific dynastic purpose: asserting the prestige of a court that had more ambition than acreage.
Davenport's ST#7549 places this among the commemorative-adjacent thaler issues struck not for circulation but for diplomatic gift-giving and treasury display, a common Ernestine practice in the second half of the seventeenth century.