The Löser was not a coin intended for trade — it was a prestige issue, struck in large multiples of the thaler specifically to be given as diplomatic gifts or awarded for distinguished service. Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel produced them with some regularity under its dukes, and this 4-thaler piece from 1618 falls squarely in that tradition. Frederick Ulrich's reign would prove troubled almost from the start, marked by factional conflict among the Guelph territories and, within two years, the full catastrophe of the Thirty Years' War drawing the region into sustained violence.
Dav BrSL#39 distinguishes this emission within a series that collectors and scholars have spent considerable effort untangling across multiple die marriages.
The Löser was not a coin intended for trade — it was a prestige issue, struck in large multiples of the thaler specifically to be given as diplomatic gifts or awarded for distinguished service. Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel produced them with some regularity under its dukes, and this 4-thaler piece from 1618 falls squarely in that tradition. Frederick Ulrich's reign would prove troubled almost from the start, marked by factional conflict among the Guelph territories and, within two years, the full catastrophe of the Thirty Years' War drawing the region into sustained violence.
Dav BrSL#39 distinguishes this emission within a series that collectors and scholars have spent considerable effort untangling across multiple die marriages.