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12 Kreuzer - Thomas I Klippe
| Issuer | Lordship of Haldenstein (Grisons) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1622 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Klippe |
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| Obverse description | Half-length armored effigy of Thomas I, Baron of Ehrenfels and Lord of Haldenstein, facing right, rendered in high relief within a beaded inner circle. The figure is depicted in contemporary early 17th-century plate armor, with the head turned slightly, hair visible beneath. The surrounding Latin legend reads THOMAS L B AB EHRENFELS D I H, identifying the issuing lord. The four corners of the square klippe flan are decorated with ornamental foliate and scroll motifs in relief, characteristic of early Baroque klippe coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Haldenstein was one of the smallest sovereign lordships in the Grisons, a territory so minor that its coinage rights were frequently contested by the neighboring Three Leagues. The year 1622 places this piece squarely within the chaos of the Thirty Years' War, during which many minor German and Swiss lords exercised emergency minting privileges — sometimes legitimately, sometimes not — to finance local defense or simply to extract seigniorage while political oversight had collapsed.
The klippe format — a square or lozenge-shaped flan cut from a rolled strip rather than a round blank — was often reserved for presentation or emergency issues. A gold klippe at 12 Kreuzer denomination from a lordship of this size is an extraordinary rarity by any measure.