1/3 Thaler - John George IV Death

John George IV died in April 1694 from smallpox, almost certainly contracted from his mistress Magdalene Sibylle of Neidschutz, who had died of the same illness just weeks earlier. The scandal surrounding the relationship — he had pursued it openly against the explicit objections of the Saxon court — meant his death carried a whiff of moral judgment that contemporary mourning literature was quick to exploit. Memorial issues like this one were a standard obligation of the Saxon mint, but the circumstances gave them unusual circulation among a public that had followed the affair closely.