Catalog
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| Issuer | Brunswick, City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1659 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 11/4 Thaler (1.25) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Displayed double-headed imperial eagle with spread wings, each head crowned individually beneath an overarching imperial crown. A globus cruciger (orb) bearing the Roman numeral value mark rests on the eagle's breast. The numerals 5 and 5 appear in the fields to either side of the orb. The date 1659 is divided by the crown at the top of the coin, and the circular Latin legend naming Emperor Leopold I runs along the outer border within a beaded rim. |
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| Reverse lettering | LEOPOLDUS. I. D. G. ROM. IMP. SEM. AUGU. |
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| Additional information |
Brunswick's civic coinage of the mid-seventeenth century was minted under conditions of genuine political anxiety — the city maintained its status as a Free Imperial City while simultaneously navigating the territorial ambitions of the surrounding Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, whose dukes repeatedly attempted to subordinate the city to ducal authority. The 1659 date falls squarely in this contested period, years after the Peace of Westphalia had reshuffled regional power without fully resolving the city-duchy tension.
The 1¼ Thaler denomination itself is an awkward, commercially motivated fraction, likely struck for specific trade settlements rather than general circulation — which is precisely why survivors in any condition are infrequent.