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2 Thalers
| Issuer | Dortmund, City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1541 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Half-length crowned and armored effigy of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (Karl V) facing right, holding a scepter over his right shoulder, presented in the formal imperial portrait style of the mid-sixteenth century. The figure wears full plate armor beneath an imperial mantle and is crowned with a closed imperial crown. A plain inner circle separates the portrait from the surrounding Latin legend citing the emperor's titles, reading: + CAROLVS + V + ROMAN + IMP + SEMP + AVGVS, an abbreviation for Carolus V, Romanorum Imperator Semper Augustus. |
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| Additional information |
Dortmund struck this heavy double thaler in 1541 as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, a status it had held since the 13th century and would defend jealously until Prussian annexation in 1803. The early 1540s were a period of acute confessional tension in the Rhineland and Westphalia, with Dortmund navigating between Catholic imperial pressure and the spreading Lutheran movement it had largely embraced by mid-century. Large silver pieces like this served the city's commercial ambitions along the Rhine-Ruhr trade routes rather than everyday transactions.
At 58 grams, this is among the heavier double thalers of the period. The Davenport reference GT I#9171 places it within a small documented series for the city.