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Ducat
| Issuer | Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, Monetary Union of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1520 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 3.38 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Saint Martin of Tours depicted on horseback moving to the left, rendered in bold relief, in the act of dividing his military cloak with his sword to share with a near-naked beggar who stands beside the horse. The composition follows the standard hagiographic iconographic convention of the charitable act for which the saint is venerated. The abbreviated Latin legend S · MARTINVS · appears in the field, identifying the patron saint. The scene is enclosed within a beaded border consistent with the obverse treatment. |
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| Additional information |
The Monetary Union of the Three Forest Cantons — Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden — was a pragmatic response to the chronic shortage of reliable gold coinage circulating through the central Swiss passes. These cantons controlled the St. Gotthard route, and the ducat was as much a commercial instrument for Alpine transit trade as anything else. The joint issue formalized a monetary agreement among polities that were politically allied but economically distinct.
Production was limited and short-lived. By the mid-sixteenth century the union had effectively ceased issuing gold, making survivorship from the 1520 emission genuinely rare.