Zürich struck gold ducats commemorating Zwingli selectively and infrequently, using them largely as presentation pieces for civic dignitaries rather than circulating currency. The 1719 issue falls within a period of Reformed Protestant self-assertion in the Swiss Confederation, when Zürich's ruling council still traded heavily on its identity as the city of the Reformation — nearly two centuries after Zwingli died at Kappel in 1531, fighting in the front ranks of his own troops.
The missing Hürlimann and Divo/Tobler numbers suggest this piece sits outside the main documented runs, possibly a variant striking or a later restrike from original or reworked dies.
Zürich struck gold ducats commemorating Zwingli selectively and infrequently, using them largely as presentation pieces for civic dignitaries rather than circulating currency. The 1719 issue falls within a period of Reformed Protestant self-assertion in the Swiss Confederation, when Zürich's ruling council still traded heavily on its identity as the city of the Reformation — nearly two centuries after Zwingli died at Kappel in 1531, fighting in the front ranks of his own troops.
The missing Hürlimann and Divo/Tobler numbers suggest this piece sits outside the main documented runs, possibly a variant striking or a later restrike from original or reworked dies.