Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
8 Ducats - John Conrad of Gemmingen
| Issuer | Eichstätt, Bishopric of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1596 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A bold, spread double-headed Imperial eagle with wings displayed and detailed feathering, surmounted by an Imperial crown above both heads, representing the authority of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. A decorative cartouche with foliate ornament appears at the base between the eagle's talons, bearing the mintmaster's initials V·M. The surrounding legend reads RVDOLPHVS II.ROM:IMP:SEMP:AVGVST, acknowledging Rudolf II as Roman Emperor, Ever August. The die work is of exceptional quality and the eagle's plumage is rendered with fine, precise detail consistent with the highest standards of late sixteenth-century German goldsmithing. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | RVDOLPHVS II.ROM:IMP:SEMP:AVGVST: V. M. |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
John Conrad of Gemmingen served as Prince-Bishop of Eichstätt from 1595 until his death in 1612, and this eight-ducat piece was struck just one year into his episcopate. Multiple-ducat presentation pieces of this weight were not currency in any practical sense — they were diplomatic instruments, given to visiting dignitaries, offered as gifts to the Emperor, or retained as demonstrations of a territorial lord's capacity to strike impressive gold.
Eichstätt's mint output in precious metal was always limited, which is precisely why large multiples from the see are so rarely encountered today.