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Etschkreuzer Polylobe
| Issuer | City of Zürich |
|---|---|
| Year | 1425-1487 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 0.98 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | MON THVR ICEN SIS (Translation: Coin of Zürich.) |
| Reverse description | A prominent large cross pattée occupies the center of the coin, its flaring arms nearly reaching the polylobe border and dividing the field into four sections. A smaller cross pattée, rotated 45 degrees, is placed behind the main cross in the field, serving as a secondary decorative and heraldic element. The surrounding circular legend in uncial Latin characters reads SANCTUS KAROLUS, invoking Saint Charlemagne as the patron saint of the coinage. The hammered strike results in a slightly irregular fabric typical of 15th-century Swiss municipal issues. |
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| Additional information |
Zürich's Etschkreuzer takes its name from the Etsch valley trade routes through the southern Tirol, where this denomination circulated alongside Milanese and Tyrolean issues in the dense commercial networks connecting the Swiss Confederation to northern Italy. The polylobe flan — a deliberate minting choice rather than a flan-cutting accident — reflects a broader 15th-century Alpine convention for distinguishing local kreuzers from debased foreign imitations flooding the same markets.
The six-decade production window corresponds almost exactly with Zürich's period of most intensive involvement in the Confederation's Burgundian conflicts and the subsequent reordering of regional trade after Charles the Bold's defeat at Murten in 1476.