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5 Ducats - Frederick William
| Issuer | Electorate of Brandenburg-Prussia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1664-1666 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Ducats |
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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 | Full-length standing effigy of Elector Frederick William I of Brandenburg in elaborate armour, facing slightly to the right, holding a long baton or sceptre in his right hand and resting his left hand on his hip. To his right stands a plumed helmet resting on a draped support or table. The figure is rendered in finely detailed Baroque style with articulated armour plates, gauntlets, and spurred boots. A beaded inner border frames the central design, with the Latin legend disposed around the periphery. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | FRID WILH D G M BR S R I ARC C ET EL |
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| Additional information |
Frederick William, the "Great Elector," issued multiple-ducat pieces during the 1660s partly as diplomatic currency — high-value gold coins presented as gifts to foreign courts and military officers whose loyalty was worth purchasing. Brandenburg-Prussia was then consolidating its position after the Thirty Years' War had left the region fragmented and largely bankrupt, and conspicuous gold coinage functioned as a political instrument as much as money.
The .986 fineness places this at the extreme upper end of contemporary gold standards, a deliberate signal of fiscal credibility from a state that had only recently built a functioning treasury.