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Dicken Piefort
| Issuer | City of Basel |
|---|---|
| Year | 1520 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 25.30 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a standing or enthroned figure of the Virgin Mary, crowned and nimbed, holding the Christ Child on her left arm in a frontal pose typical of late Gothic Marian iconography. The Christ Child appears to hold a spherical object, possibly an orb, and both figures are rendered with considerable sculptural depth befitting a piefort striking. An inner beaded border frames the central devotional image, while the circumferential legend AVE ⁑ MARIA GRACIA ⁑ PL, an abbreviated form of the Ave Maria prayer in Latin uncial script with pellet stops, runs along the outer margin. The dentilated rim mirrors the obverse, giving the piece a unified and refined aesthetic consistent with presentation or pattern coinage of the period. |
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| Mintage | 1520 |
| Additional information |
Pièforts — struck at double or greater thickness from standard dies — were produced not for circulation but as presentation pieces, proofs of die quality, or gifts to civic dignitaries. Basel's early sixteenth-century municipal coinage occupied an unusual position: the city operated as a de facto sovereign mint authority within the Holy Roman Empire, a status that made elaborate presentation strikes politically meaningful. This piece dates to the year Basel formally joined the Swiss Confederation, having signed the permanent alliance in 1501 — context that lends any commemorative or prestige striking from this decade a particular civic weight.
The Richt Pr1 reference places it among the earliest documented pièforts from the Basel series.