Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
10 Florins - Mihály Apafi Klippe
| Issuer | Transylvania, Principality of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1662-1663 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Thaler (1526-1780) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Within a beaded inner circle on the hexagonal gold flan, a three-quarter-length armored bust of Prince Mihály Apafi faces right, depicted in ornate period military dress with a plumed helmet, richly decorated breastplate, and a commander's baton or scepter held in the right hand. The effigy is rendered in high relief with fine engraving characteristic of Transylvanian Baroque goldsmithing. The surrounding legend reads MICHA APAFI D G PR TR, distributed across the upper field, identifying the prince by name and title. The beaded border frames the design closely, conforming to the hexagonal klippe format. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | MICHA APAFI D G PR TR (Translation: Michael Apafi Dei gratia princeps Transilvaniae) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Mihály Apafi became Prince of Transylvania in 1661 only because the Ottomans installed him — a minor nobleman with no particular claim to power, chosen precisely because he was malleable. His early reign was financially precarious, squeezed between Ottoman tribute obligations and the ongoing devastation left by the Rákóczi campaigns. Klippe issues of this scale — multiple-ducat presentation pieces struck in square format — were tools of diplomacy rather than circulation, produced to mark the consolidation of authority and distributed as gifts to Ottoman and Habsburg intermediates alike.
ÉH#414 is among the larger gold klippés documented from his reign. Survivors in any condition are rare.