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24 Kreuzers - Gabriel Bethlen Oppeln
| Issuer | Duchy of Oppeln-Ratibor |
|---|---|
| Year | 1623 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Armored and draped bust of Gabriel Bethlen facing right, wearing a fur-trimmed cap with feather plume, the figure occupying the majority of the central field. The bust is rendered in a bold, somewhat crude style characteristic of early seventeenth-century Silesian hammered coinage. A circular beaded inner border separates the portrait from the surrounding Latin legend. The peripheral inscription reads GABRIEL D G SAC RO (24) M IMP TRAN PRI P, abbreviating his full titulature as Gabriel, by the Grace of God, of the Sacred Roman Empire, Prince of Transylvania. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Gabriel Bethlen struck these 24 Kreuzers from Oppeln after Emperor Ferdinand II ceded the Silesian duchies of Oppeln and Ratibor to him in 1621 as collateral for Hungarian territorial concessions — an arrangement that left Ferdinand's Catholic advisors furious and Bethlen briefly in control of nominally Habsburg lands. The arrangement was always temporary, and the duchies reverted to Habsburg control in 1623, making the window for legitimate coinage from this authority extremely narrow.
1623 sits at the very end of that window, likely struck before the transfer was complete or as the administration wound down.