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Ducat
| Issuer | Republic of Bern |
|---|---|
| Year | 1772 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | MONETA · AUR · REIPUB · BERNENS · |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents a fully inscribed field enclosed within a symmetrical Baroque cartouche composed of bold C-scrolls and foliate sprays issuing from the top and bottom. The five-line Latin devotional legend BENE / DICTUS / SIT IEHOVA / DEUS · / I · DUC · is displayed in bold roman capitals across the centre of the field, separated from the denomination I · DUC · below by a horizontal rule. The cartouche frame is finely detailed with berry-bearing foliage at the apex and a stylised foliate pendant at the base, all executed in high relief characteristic of late eighteenth-century Swiss milled gold coinage. |
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| Additional information |
Bern's ducats of this period were struck to the long-established Venetian ducat standard, allowing them to circulate freely across much of continental Europe without discount. The Republic maintained its gold coinage with unusual consistency throughout the eighteenth century, a reflection of Bern's position as the wealthiest of the Swiss cantons — its treasury funded in large part by the export of mercenary soldiers to foreign crowns.
The 1772 date places this piece just over two decades before the French invasion of 1798 that dissolved the Republic entirely, with Bern's famous treasury seized by Napoleon's forces to help finance the Egyptian campaign.