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3 Thalers - Frederick Ulrich
| Issuer | Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Principality of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1617 |
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| Value | 3 Thalers |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Equestrian portrait of Duke Friedrich Ulrich in contemporary armour and plumed hat, mounted on a prancing horse moving to the right, the duke raising his right hand in command while his cloak billows behind him. The horse is depicted in fine detail with flowing mane and tail. The effigy is set within a beaded inner circle, with the Latin titular legend surrounding in the outer field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The quartered arms of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel displayed on an ornate heraldic shield surmounted by five elaborate crested helmets with mantling. Flanking the shield on either side stands a wild man (Wilder Mann), each holding a uprooted tree over his outer shoulder while supporting the shield with his inner hand. The denomination numeral '3' appears at the bottom of the field, with the date 1617 incorporated at the end of the surrounding Latin legend. |
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| Additional information |
Frederick Ulrich's reign over Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was, by most measures, a disaster. He assumed power in 1613 under the effective control of his minister Christoph von Döring, whose corrupt administration provoked open revolt among the Estates. The large multiple thalers issued in his name during this period functioned less as circulating currency than as prestige objects — demonstrating a fiscal confidence the principality did not actually possess.
1617 sits just on the edge of the Thirty Years' War, which would devastate the region beginning the following year. Frederick Ulrich himself died in 1634 without a legitimate heir, extinguishing the Wolfenbüttel line entirely.