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4 Thalers - Frederick Harz - Ausbeute - Löser
| Issuer | Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle |
|---|---|
| Year | 1647 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Bust of Duke Friedrich of Brunswick-Lüneburg facing right, armored and draped, occupying the central field. Surrounding the ducal portrait is an elaborate arrangement of heraldic shields representing the territories of his duchy, including Brunswick, Eberstein, Oberdiepholz, Lohra, Unterdiepholz, Lutterberg, Blankenburg, Klettenberg, Regenstein, Hohenstein, Bruchhausen, Hoya, Homburg, and Lüneburg. The peripheral legend in German reads: V . G . G . FRIDERICH HERTZOG ZU BRAUNSUEIG UND LUNEBURG ∴, identifying the ruler by name and title. The overall composition reflects the grand Baroque display characteristic of large German Löser coinage of the mid-seventeenth century. |
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| Reverse lettering | UNFRIED VERZEHRT · ANNO 1647 · FRIEDE ERNEHRT |
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| Additional information |
The term "Ausbeute" designates these massive Löser pieces as mining-yield coins — struck directly from silver extracted at the Harz mountain mines, a practice the Brunswick-Lüneburg dukes used to advertise the productivity of their mineral rights as much as to create spendable currency. By 1647, the Thirty Years' War was in its final exhausted year, and the Celle line's ability to produce multi-thaler presentation pieces from domestic silver carried pointed political weight among the treaty negotiators assembling at Osnabrück and Münster.
Lösers of this size were never intended for ordinary commerce. At 116 grams they functioned as gifts, diplomatic instruments, and treasury reserves — circulated only among courts.