4 Thalers - Ernest August I

Ernest August served as Bishop of Osnabrück from 1661 under the terms of the Peace of Westphalia, which had established an unusual confessional alternation for the see — bishops would rotate between Catholic and Protestant appointments in perpetuity. He was the Protestant incumbent, a younger son of the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and would later become the first Elector of Hanover in 1692. This 4-thaler piece, struck just one year into his Osnabrück tenure, belongs to a class of large-format silver multiples produced less for circulation than for ceremonial presentation and diplomatic gift-giving.

At 85mm across, surviving examples frequently show adjustment marks from the blank preparation stage.