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.
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.