Catalog
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| Issuer | Sion, Bishopric of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1565-1604 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Thaler (1475-1780) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A bold Greek cross occupies the central field, its arms extending nearly to the inner border of a raised beaded or rope circle that frames the design. The quadrants formed by the cross arms are plain. The surrounding marginal legend SAN·THEODVLS invokes Saint Theodore, patron saint of the Diocese of Sion, running along the outer periphery of the coin within the legend area. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | SAN·THEODVLS |
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| Additional information |
Hildebrand I von Riedmatten served as Bishop of Sion from 1565 until his death in 1604, presiding over a diocese perpetually caught between the ambitions of Savoy, the Swiss Confederacy, and the fractious Zenkräfte — the seven districts of the Valais whose secular power increasingly rivaled episcopal authority throughout his tenure. The billon vierer belongs to the small-denomination workhorse coinage of the period, kept in circulation for petty transactions in a mountain economy where silver was hoarded and copper mistrusted.
The HMZ 1#2-1049 reference places this type firmly within the documented episcopal coinage of the see, though Riedmatten's long episcopate of nearly four decades means die varieties within the series are not uncommon.