2 Thalers - William V

William V of Hesse-Cassel spent virtually his entire reign financing and maneuvering through the Thirty Years' War, and this double thaler dates to one of its bleakest phases — the period following the death of Sweden's Gustavus Adolphus at Lützen in 1632, when the Protestant cause was faltering badly. William remained one of the few German princes willing to sustain Swedish alliance without flinching, borrowing heavily from his own treasury to keep troops in the field.

Large silver multiples from Hesse-Cassel in this decade are genuinely scarce survivors. The landgraviate's mints were under chronic pressure, and production of presentation-weight pieces was intermittent at best.