[Game] World Coins Time Machine… Counting Backward by Year! (Plus Prize Coin)

My last posting before going off to spend the holidays with the grandchildren. Happy Christmas, especially to all lovers of early modern European coins !

1548 Germany ERFURT Taler with a perhaps seasonally appropriate reverse legend:
DATE.CAESARIS.CAESARI.E. QV(ae).SVN(t).DE(i). DEO (render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's (Matthew 22.21))

 

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That is spectacular.

 

German States Pfalz 1547 Thaler

 

Beautifull Taler!
I wish You and your Family a Happy Christmas Holiday
Maybe Santa will surprise you with a nice coin.
John

 

That is a magnificent piece! Close to where I was born....
John

 

Awesome all around! Beautiful coins, historical narratives . . . thanks to all for your time and sharing. Like John (panzerman), I am unable to understand anyone's description of history as boring. Completely baffled.

I finally get to post one! Here I post a Hungary 1546 one-denar, minted at the Kremnica mint (KB) (EH# 745a). It's a Ferdinand I (a Habsburg (or Hapsburg)), who ruled from 1526 to 1564.

 

I have a 46 too
AV Dukat 1546 Danzig Mint 22m. 3.52g.
Sigismund I Stary (the old) how is that for a demeaning nickname)
King of Poland and Danzig
This coin was once in collection of Hans Frank Governor General of Poland 1939-44

 

A beautiful coin but a black providence

 

Yes, I read up a bit on old Hans Frank, what a guy! Talk about black provenance, wow. Wonder what happened to the rest of his coin collection? I can only assume that Poland will never mint any coins in his honor, nor Israel.

 

Catching up after Christmas holidays

1547 Germany ULM Taler with reverse in name of Emperor Charles V




1546 Germany LUBECK 1/2 Taler (16 Schilling) with St. John reverse

 

1545 Germany BRANDENBURG-KUSTRIN Johann Taler

 

Three amazing Talers designed/ struck by great mintmasters/ all part of the impeccable "Talerman" collection. I really like the them all equally, fantastic quality, history and engraving.
John

 

Yes, I also love these Renaissance portraits. The coinage of the German-speaking world in this period is so superior (at least in silver, perhaps not in panzerman country) to the contemporary coinage of France, England or Spain . The only competition comes from Italy but, if I may be politically incorrect, as so often, they are much less consistent.

 

Yes, most amazing talers! Thank you! And let me take this time to wish all a happy, healthy, productive, prosperous and [enter your preferred adjective here] 2019! And to thank y'all for hours of fun and learning here on this post.

I am most pleased to be able to post a 1544! However, not a beautiful taler. It's a Prussia one-groschen. My understanding (always ready to be corrected or added to) is that at this time Prussia was a dukedom. Albrecht I (there on the obverse) was the Duke of Prussia and Margrave of Brandenburg, who owed allegiance to Sigismund (the 'S' on the eagle's breast), King of Poland.

 

I agree 100 percent with Talerman,esp. since I am German. The Gold/ Silver/ Copper coinage was far superior in artistic merit/ workmanship to other non-Germanic nations. . First milled/ early dated/ large denominations where struck under the Holy Roman Empire during the Renaissance era. Magnificent coins where struck in Regensburg/ Nuremberg/ Basel/ Chur/ Salzburg/ Sacshen/ Vienna/ Prague/ Livonia/ Olmutz....

 

Nice little coin with, as you indicate, a lot of interesting history behind it, going back to the Order of the House of St. Mary of the Germans in Jerusalem (generally known in English as the Teutonic Knights). It was formed in 1192 to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals. After Christian forces were defeated and kicked out by Saladin, the Order moved to Transylvania in 1211 to help defend Hungary against barbarian invaders. Kicked out of Hungary because they would not accept allegiance to the King but only to the Pope, the Knights moved on to invade Prussia in 1230 with the mission of bringing Christianity to the pagan Prussians. They soon established their own monastic state in Prussia and Livonia, including lands claimed by the Christian Kings of Poland. After Lithuania officially accepted Christianity in 1387 the Order theoretically lost its main purpose but continued to enjoy its state with frequent conflicts with its Christian neighbours, Poland, Lithuania and Novgorod. Finally, in 1410, a Polish-Lithuanian army decisively defeated the Order and broke its military power at the Battle of Tannenberg. In 1525 the last Grand Master of the Order, Albrecht of Brandenburg, resigned and converted to Lutheranism and was able to convert the Order's Prussian territories into a secular duchy of Prussia. He defected from both the Papacy and Holy Roman Emperor and agreed to do public homage to Sigismund I, King of Poland (who was in fact his uncle) in return for being granted the title of secular duke of Prussia as a vassal of Poland. Albrecht was the first European ruler to establish Lutheranism, and thus Protestantism as the official state religion of his lands.

Prussia would remain a Polish fief until 1657 when King Jan Casimir would grant Friedrich Wilhelm, Albrecht's succesor, and the Hohenzollern dynasty of Brandenburg hereditary sovereignty under the Treaty of Wohlau.

My thanks to Wikipedia for filling in many gaps in my memory.



Albrecht of Prussia, painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder, dated 1528

 

Last post in 2018 Another 1544 coin

Germany SAXONY Joint Issue Johann Friedrich I the Magnanimous & Moritz



The friendship implied in this joint issue is misleading. In 1539, at the age of 18, Moritz was sent to live in Torgau with his older cousin Johann Friedrich I , Elector of Saxony. They did not get on and eventually hated each other. In 1541 Moritz succeeded his father as Duke of Saxony and Head of the Albertine Line.
When his father-in-law Philip of Hesse and Johann Friedrich formed the Protestant Schmalkaldic League against the Catholic forces led by Emperor Charles V, Moritz, although a Protestant, refused to join.


Portrait of Johann Friedrich by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1531.


Portrait of Moritz in armour, by Lucas Cranach the Younger.

In 1546 the Emperor imposed the Imperial Ban (Reichsacht) on Johann Friedrich, making him an outlaw, considered legally dead. Anyone was allowed to rob, injure or kill him without legal consequences. Moritz fought alongside the Emperor and his brother Ferdinand in the crucial Battle of Mühlberg in 1547, when the Schmalkaldic League was defeated and Philip and Johann Friedrich captured. In order to escape being beheaded, Johann Friedrich was forced to cede the Electorate of Saxony and sizable lands to Moritz.