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20 Ducat - John George I
| Issuer | Saxony (Albertinian Line), Electorate of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1628 |
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| Value | 20 Ducats (20 Dukaten) (70) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Large, elaborate six-fold heraldic shield displaying the quartered arms of the Electorate of Saxony and associated territories, surmounted by six ornate crested helmets with mantling in high relief. The date 1628 is divided and placed in the lower field flanking the base of the shield. A continuous Latin legend encircles the design within a beaded border, citing the Elector's dignity as Arch-Marshal and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. |
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| Additional information |
John George I of Saxony was among the most powerful Protestant princes in the Empire, yet his foreign policy during the Thirty Years' War was notoriously cautious — he delayed siding with Sweden until Gustavus Adolphus forced his hand just months before Breitenfeld in 1631. The 1628 date places this piece squarely in the war's most uncertain phase, when Wallenstein's imperial armies were at peak strength and Saxon neutrality was under constant pressure.
Multiple-ducat presentation pieces of this scale were struck at Dresden not for circulation but as diplomatic gifts and treasury demonstrations. At twenty ducats' worth of nearly pure gold, this was a deliberate show of electoral wealth during a period when Saxon finances were being tested by war contributions and troop quartering.