Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Guldiner Gold trial strike
| Issuer | City of Bern |
|---|---|
| Year | 1501 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 33.93 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | At center, the Bernese bear passant to left within an elaborate architectural and heraldic composition; above the bear, a displayed double-headed imperial eagle. A semicircle of seven heraldic shields below — representing the subject territories of Niedersimmental, Frutigen, Burgdorf, Thun, Laupen, Obersimmental, and Aeschi — frames the central device. An outer border contains twenty additional coats-of-arms of Bernese subject territories and allies, including Aarberg, Lenzburg, Brugg, Aarau, Zofingen, Oberhasli, Unterseen, Interlaken, Trachselwald, Murten, Huttwil, Aarburg, Erlach, Aarwangen, Orbe, Grandson, Bipp, Wangen, Büren, and Nidau. The overall composition reflects Bern's territorial power and the high-relief Gothic craftsmanship characteristic of early sixteenth-century Swiss coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Guldiner — a large silver coin developed in the Tyrol during the 1480s — was being adopted across Swiss territories around the turn of the sixteenth century, and Bern's 1501 issue sits at the leading edge of that transition. Trial strikes in gold were produced not for circulation but to present to civic officials or dignitaries for approval of the dies, making survivors essentially proofs of administrative process rather than monetary instruments.
The HMZ 2-171b designation confirms this piece's standing as one of the rarest documented Swiss trial pieces of the period. Fewer than a handful are recorded.