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4 Schilling
| Issuer | Hamburg, Free Hanseatic city of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1725-1738 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 4 Schilling (1⁄12) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field displays the emblematic Hamburg castle — a turreted white tower with three battlemented turrets — set within an ornate baroque cartouche bearing the denomination IIII SCHIL. The castle is flanked by two leafy branches forming a wreath-like surround. The peripheral legend reads HAMBURGER CURRENT. with the date of issue (e.g. 1727) incorporated into the circular inscription. The overall design is characteristic of early eighteenth-century German civic coinage, with fine baroque decorative detail throughout. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Central device features the double-headed imperial eagle of the Holy Roman Empire, displayed with spread wings, each head surmounted by a crown and the whole ensigned by a large imperial crown above. The eagle's breast bears the orb (Reichsapfel) as an escutcheon. The eagle's talons hold a sword and sceptre. The mintmaster's initials I·H·L appear in the lower field below the eagle's tail. The surrounding legend, reading clockwise from upper right, gives the titles of Emperor Charles VI: CAROLUS·VI·D·G·ROM·IMP·SEMP·AUG· |
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| Additional information |
Hamburg's 4 Schilling pieces of this period were struck under the authority of the city's own mint, which the Senate jealously guarded as a privilege of the Free City's status within the Holy Roman Empire. The denomination sat awkwardly in daily commerce — too valuable for small transactions, not heavy enough for serious mercantile settling — and Hamburg's trade economy at the time increasingly favored the larger Speziesreichstaler for wholesale exchange.
KM#359 spans fourteen years and likely multiple die marriages; collectors working this series have noted subtle variations in the eagle's rendering that suggest periodic re-engraving rather than a single working die run.