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1/3 Mark

Issuer Lüneburg, City of
Year 1502
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Currency Thaler
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Obverse description Within a beaded inner circle, the city arms of Lüneburg depicted as a fortified gate with crenellated towers, superimposed upon a plain cross whose arms extend to the inner circle, dividing the field into four quadrants. A rampant lion adorns the base of the gate. The surrounding legend in Gothic uncial script reads MONETA LVNEBVR (with the date 1502 incorporated), all contained within a beaded outer border.
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Obverse lettering MONETA LVNEBVR 1502
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Additional information

Lüneburg's wealth in this period derived almost entirely from its salt trade — the city controlled one of northern Europe's most productive brine sources, and its merchant class wielded financial influence that rivaled many territorial princes. This coin was struck roughly two decades after the city had weathered the Preisgabe of 1479, in which Brunswick-Lüneburg's dukes attempted to reassert control over municipal affairs, a struggle that left Lüneburg's civic institutions bruised but largely intact.

The Jesse and Mader references both place this type within a tightly documented sequence of Lüneburg municipal issues, making die attribution relatively tractable for specialists.