Solothurn's klippe issues of the early seventeenth century were prestige strikes, not circulation pieces — produced as gifts for dignitaries and as demonstrations of civic authority during a period when the city's status as seat of the French ambassador to the Swiss Confederation made such displays politically useful. The 1628 date places this squarely in the Thirty Years' War, when Solothurn's Catholic allegiance and French connections made it a node of considerable diplomatic traffic.
Gold klippes at this weight were almost certainly presentation pieces. The square flan itself signals intent.
Solothurn's klippe issues of the early seventeenth century were prestige strikes, not circulation pieces — produced as gifts for dignitaries and as demonstrations of civic authority during a period when the city's status as seat of the French ambassador to the Swiss Confederation made such displays politically useful. The 1628 date places this squarely in the Thirty Years' War, when Solothurn's Catholic allegiance and French connections made it a node of considerable diplomatic traffic.
Gold klippes at this weight were almost certainly presentation pieces. The square flan itself signals intent.