24 Mariengroschen - Frederick Christian of Plettenberg

Frederick Christian von Plettenberg became Prince-Bishop of Münster in 1688, navigating the diocese through the turbulent aftermath of the Nine Years' War while simultaneously managing the financial strain left by his predecessor's costly military entanglements with Louis XIV. The 24 Mariengroschen denomination — equal to two-thirds of a Reichsthaler — was a workhorse of northwestern German commerce, widely accepted across the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle.

Plettenberg's coinage of the 1690s is notable for its relatively consistent silver fineness at a time when many ecclesiastical mints were quietly debasing. Schulze 143 represents a distinct emission within what is otherwise a closely clustered group of varieties from this reign.