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Thaler 'Hochmutstaler'
| Issuer | City of Zürich |
|---|---|
| Year | 1660 |
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| Currency | Thaler (1651-1700) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The date MDC LX (1660) in Roman numerals occupies the center of the field in two lines, with a decorative fleur-de-lis ornament below. The central numerals are framed by a large undulating ribbon or banner that curves around the central date device. The peripheral Latin legend, a devotional prayer for peace, encircles the design within a raised border, and the edge of the flan bears reeding consistent with milled coinage of the period. |
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| Additional information |
Zürich struck this piece in direct response to a sumptuary dispute that had fractured the city's political class. The "Hochmutstaler" — roughly, the pride or arrogance thaler — takes its name from the civic ordinance of 1650s Zürich targeting displays of excessive wealth and social pretension among the burghers. The coin was not a commemorative in any celebratory sense; it was closer to a public statement, minted at a moment when the city council was actively legislating against the kind of ostentation the piece itself ironically embodies.
The multiple catalog concordances reflect decades of collector fascination with this type rather than any production complexity.