10 Ducats - Anselm Francis of Ingelheim

Anselm Franz von Ingelheim served as Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1679 until his death in 1695, and multi-ducat presentation pieces of this weight were not circulating currency — they were diplomatic instruments. Ten-ducat strikes at .986 fine gold were produced for distribution at court ceremonies, imperial diets, and as personal gifts to visiting dignitaries, a practice the Mainz electorate used aggressively to maintain political leverage within the Holy Roman Empire's increasingly fractious college of electors during the early 1680s.

The Franconian Circle and the ongoing costs of defense against Louis XIV's Reunions policy strained electoral finances severely in precisely the years this piece was struck.