The Peace of Ryswick, signed in September 1697, ended the Nine Years' War and temporarily checked Louis XIV's expansionist ambitions in the Rhineland — territory that directly bordered Mainz's ecclesiastical holdings. Lothair Francis von Schönborn, who had been elected Archbishop-Elector of Mainz in 1694, had every political reason to commemorate a settlement that restored some stability to his see after years of French military pressure on the left bank of the Rhine.
The dating presents a curiosity: struck in 1696, before the treaty was actually concluded. This suggests either anticipatory minting during active negotiations, or a cataloging discrepancy worth verifying against die evidence.
The Peace of Ryswick, signed in September 1697, ended the Nine Years' War and temporarily checked Louis XIV's expansionist ambitions in the Rhineland — territory that directly bordered Mainz's ecclesiastical holdings. Lothair Francis von Schönborn, who had been elected Archbishop-Elector of Mainz in 1694, had every political reason to commemorate a settlement that restored some stability to his see after years of French military pressure on the left bank of the Rhine.
The dating presents a curiosity: struck in 1696, before the treaty was actually concluded. This suggests either anticipatory minting during active negotiations, or a cataloging discrepancy worth verifying against die evidence.