12 Mariengroschen - Ernest August I

Ernest August held the Bishopric of Osnabrück under the terms of the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which established an unusual alternating succession between Catholic and Lutheran bishops — Ernest August, a Protestant, took the see in 1661. The arrangement was politically awkward and administratively complicated, which makes the coinage of his Osnabrück tenure a distinct chapter from his better-documented later output as Duke of Calenberg and, eventually, first Elector of Hanover.

Kennepohl's distinction of the 296b variety likely reflects a reverse die difference from the primary emission.