Catalog
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| Issuer | Bishopric of Münster |
|---|---|
| Year | 1694 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Bare-headed, armored bust of Bishop Frederick Christian von Plettenberg facing right, wearing elaborately engraved plate armor with decorative shoulder pauldrons and a lace cravat visible at the neck. The hair is long and curly in the late Baroque fashion, falling over the shoulders. A circular Latin legend surrounds the bust within a finely milled border, identifying the bishop by name and title. |
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| Reverse description | Elaborate quartered coat of arms of the Bishopric of Münster and the Plettenberg family, surmounted by a bishop's mitre flanked by two ornate heraldic supporters and decorative baroque scrollwork. The shield is divided into four quarters, displaying the arms of Münster and Plettenberg, with pellets and walking animals visible in the respective quarters. A circular Latin legend runs along the inner border giving the bishop's additional titles, with the date 1694 incorporated into the legend at the right. |
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| Additional information |
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 considerable debts left by his predecessor Christoph Bernhard von Galen, whose aggressive military campaigns had strained the bishopric's finances severely. Multiple-thaler pieces of this type were not intended for ordinary commerce — they functioned primarily as presentation pieces and diplomatic gifts, struck in limited quantities for ceremonial purposes.
The Dav. Lg. 364 designation places this firmly in the large-thaler series. At roughly three times the weight of a standard thaler, dies for these pieces wore quickly and production runs were short.