Catalog
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| Issuer | City of Geneva |
|---|---|
| Year | 1535-1598 |
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| Composition | Billon |
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| Obverse description | The quartered arms of Geneva displayed on a pointed shield at center, divided into four quarters bearing the Imperial eagle and the key of Saint Peter, enclosed within a plain inner circle. An Imperial double-headed eagle surmounts the shield above the circle. The date appears within the surrounding circular legend. The overall style is characteristic of 16th-century Swiss hammered coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Geneva's adoption of the Reformed faith in 1536 — the same year Calvin arrived — transformed the city-republic's civic and monetary identity almost simultaneously. The municipal government assumed full control of coinage as part of a broader assertion of independence from the Prince-Bishops who had previously dominated the city, making issues of this period direct artifacts of that rupture.
Billon coinage of this type circulated heavily in Savoy-adjacent trade, where the denier remained a practical accounting unit long after silver had displaced it elsewhere in Switzerland.