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10 Ducats - Charles Ferdinand Vasa
| Issuer | Oppeln-Ratibor, Duchy of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1653 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Charles Ferdinand Vasa facing left, with long flowing hair, rendered in high relief in a bold baroque style. The effigy displays armored or draped shoulders and a naturalistic portrait characteristic of mid-17th century Central European coinage. A circular Latin legend surrounds the bust, naming the ruler with his titles as Prince of Poland and Sweden. The field is plain gold, and the portrait fills the coin's face with considerable artistry and detail. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Charles Ferdinand Vasa, Bishop of Wrocław and Płock, administered the Silesian duchies of Oppeln and Ratibor as a Polish royal appanage from 1627 until his death in 1655 — one of the more unusual arrangements in the region's tangled jurisdictional history, placing an ecclesiastical prince in control of a secular fief during the tail end of the Thirty Years' War. Multiple-ducat presentation pieces of this weight were not struck for commerce; they were diplomatic instruments, given to courts and magnates as calculated displays of status.
The dual KM reference reflects genuine cataloging uncertainty about die marriage attribution, a known problem with Silesian gold multiples of this period.