4 Thalers - Ernest August of Osnabrück

Ernest August became Bishop of Osnabrück in 1661 under the terms of the Westphalian settlement, which had imposed alternating Catholic and Lutheran bishops on the diocese as a compromise solution — making him a Protestant ruler of a nominally ecclesiastical territory. This 4-Thaler piece belongs to a category of large-format silver multiples struck less for commerce than for diplomatic gifting and court display; no meaningful quantity ever changed hands in a market.

The Calenberg line's finances in this period were bolstered substantially by the hiring out of troops to foreign powers, and the resulting bullion gave Ernest August the means to commission exactly this kind of showpiece. He would later become the first Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg to be elevated to Elector, in 1692.