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4 Pfennig - Ferdinand of Bayern
| Issuer | Bishopric of Münster |
|---|---|
| Year | 1641 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Central quartered shield of arms surmounted by a princely crown, displaying the Bavarian lozengy pattern and the Münster cross, with a lion rampant in the lower left quarter. The numeral 84 appears in a cartouche at the base of the shield, denoting the coin's value as 1/84th of a Thaler. The surrounding legend, reading FERDINA ELEC COL, identifies the issuer as Ferdinand, Elector and Archbishop of Cologne, rendered in Latin within a beaded border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Ferdinand of Bavaria held the Bishopric of Münster from 1612 until his death in 1650, ruling through nearly the entire Thirty Years' War. The 1641 date places this piece deep within that conflict — Westphalia, where Münster sits, was among the most devastated regions of the war, and the peace negotiations that would eventually end it were already beginning to gather in the city itself, concluding there in 1648.
Small silver fractions like this circulated under severe monetary strain, with debasement and coin shortages endemic across the German states throughout the 1630s and 1640s.