2 Guldiner - Matthaus Schiner

Matthaus Schiner, the Bishop of Sion who commissioned this piece, was one of the most politically volatile churchmen of the early sixteenth century — a Swiss cardinal who allied with Julius II against France, personally led papal troops into battle, and was eventually driven from his see by the Supersaxo faction before dying in Rome in 1522. This double guldiner was struck at the very opening of that turbulent career, when Schiner had just secured the bishopric in 1499 after a bitter disputed election.

At roughly 59 grams, pieces of this denomination were among the heaviest silver coins produced in the Swiss orbit at the time. Very few were struck, and survivors in any condition are genuinely rare.