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2 Goldgulden - Gotthard Kettler Wenden, wavy bottom
| Issuer | Livonian Order |
|---|---|
| Year | 1559-1561 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 8.38 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A large quartered heraldic shield of the Livonian Order, surmounted by an ornate cross, flanked by elaborate foliate and scroll mantling issuing from crowned helmets on either side, all set within a beaded inner circle. The base of the shield features a distinctive wavy lower border, a diagnostic variety marker for this issue. The cross above the shield rises prominently into the upper field. A Latin devotional legend encircles the entire composition in the outer annulus. |
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| Reverse lettering | MARIÆ · FILI · SERVA · NOS (Translation: Mariae Filius Serva Noster Son of Marie, save us) |
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| Additional information |
Gotthard Kettler, the last Master of the Livonian Order, struck these pieces during the Order's terminal collapse under simultaneous pressure from Ivan the Terrible's advancing forces and internal dissolution. The Livonian War, which began in 1558, effectively ended the Order as a functioning political body within three years — making the entire 1559–1561 window a minting period for an institution already in the process of liquidating itself.
Kettler would formally secularize the remaining territory in 1561, converting it into the Duchy of Courland under Polish-Lithuanian suzerainty. Coins struck in his name as Master are consequently few, and the Wenden mint issues with the wavy-bottom shield variant represent a narrow die-specific subset of an already short-lived type.