Emmerich Joseph von Breitbach-Bürresheim was elected Archbishop-Elector of Mainz in 1763, and his reign proved short — he died in 1774 after little more than a decade governing one of the most politically consequential sees in the Holy Roman Empire. The Archbishopric of Mainz held the prestige of being the leading ecclesiastical electorate, its archbishop serving as Archchancellor of Germany and presiding over imperial elections. Coins struck in his name carried that constitutional weight.
The Konventionskreuzer denomination reflects the Konventionsfuß monetary standard adopted broadly across German states following the Austro-Bavarian convention of 1753.
Emmerich Joseph von Breitbach-Bürresheim was elected Archbishop-Elector of Mainz in 1763, and his reign proved short — he died in 1774 after little more than a decade governing one of the most politically consequential sees in the Holy Roman Empire. The Archbishopric of Mainz held the prestige of being the leading ecclesiastical electorate, its archbishop serving as Archchancellor of Germany and presiding over imperial elections. Coins struck in his name carried that constitutional weight.
The Konventionskreuzer denomination reflects the Konventionsfuß monetary standard adopted broadly across German states following the Austro-Bavarian convention of 1753.