2 Ducats - Lothair Francis of Schönborn Peace treaty of Ryswick

The Peace of Ryswick, signed in September 1697, ended the Nine Years' War and briefly restored a fragile equilibrium to the Holy Roman Empire's western borders. Lothair Francis von Schönborn, elected Archbishop-Elector of Mainz in 1694, was among the imperial ecclesiastical princes with the most to gain from the settlement — Mainz had suffered repeated French incursions under Louis XIV, and the peace offered a chance to consolidate both territorial and political authority.

The dating of this piece to 1696 places it as an anticipatory or commemorative issue, struck before the final treaty signatures — a not uncommon practice among imperial mints eager to mark diplomatic events while momentum held.