This AV Dukat is the best I have seen, so I grabbed it. Pfalz-Simmern/ Grafschaft Richard I 1569-98 Graf zu Pfalz-Simmern-Sponheim AV Dukat (15)79 mintage 1400 ex. 3.49. 22mm. .986 obv: Count standing wearing armor/ holding sword rev. Ornate Shield with Arms of Bayern/ Pflaz When Richard died in 1598 without a heir/ the County was absorbed into Pfalz-Neuburg
Very nice, John. I have several different Dukats, but none are photo'd. Someday, I will have to toss some of mine out.
I think that I have more "Dukats" then any other forms of coinage. Presently I have them from the tiny 1/32 to the 10 Dukaten(Zecchini) Venice struck up to 105 Zecchini (365g.) Poland/ Bohemia/ Transylvania struck 100 Dukaten. The Goldgulden/ Florini d'or/ Scudo d'oro/ Zecchini where based on same weight 3.60g=1 Neat thing that the first ones in 1200s weighed exactly the same as the last ones from Yugoslavia in 1933
Nice artwork on that one John ! Boy, you have to wonder how those guys could move wearing all that armor . And we complain about wearing a face mask ....
The one from your neighborhood is very cool, @panzerman, but I'm especially gravitating toward the Florentine one. It would be great to see the other side.
I am probably one of the complainers/ I only wear a mask when (we are forced to) going into stores/ etc. Never wear a shirt in Summer months/ too hot. Wearing armor would have been awfull/ worse yet I am allergic to pain/ imagine what it felt like to have been slashed/ stabbed/ bludgeoned/ shot back in 1579. Then, there where no fridges, so you would have to drink beer at room temp, But not everything was rotten back then, you had nice coins to collect Thank God for that guilty pleasure. John
@panzerman - I am also a bit of a complainer (mostly to myself as I head back inside to grab mask and gloves I forgot before venturing out).
The good news about plate armor, such as it is, is that by this point in the 16th century, it was largely ceremonial. Or for jousting. ...Then there's the story (tell me if this is an urban myth) about Henry VIII, in his corpulent old age, having to be lifted onto his horse by a pulley...
I think armor went obsolete with the longbow/ Crecy/ Poiters/ Agincourt. The most feared and respected army (Mongols) horsemen wore silk garments. Yet in 1241 AD two Mongol Armies each 30K horsemen faced the German knights (100K) Liegnitz and a Hungarian Allied Army group (100K) at Mohi / end score both European Armies annihilated/ Mongols lite losses. They would have finished the conquest of W. Europe had Ogatai not died and forced Subotai to return too Karakorum in that year.
