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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Tejas, post: 4205863, member: 84905&quot;]Very interesting coins. Just a theory, but I could imagine that the 7 heads in the arches represent the 7 electoral princes (Kurfürsten), meaning that the head in the centre would be the German Emperor.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was elected by a collegium of electoral princes, called the &quot;Kurfürsten&quot;. The word &quot;Kur-&quot; comes from the German verb &quot;küren&quot;, meaning to elect, while &quot;-fürst&quot; means prince.</p><p>In the 12th century electoral Princes were:</p><p><br /></p><p>1. The Archbishop of Mainz as Imperial Chancellor for Germany</p><p>2. The Archbishop of Cologne as Imperial Chancellor for Italy</p><p>3. The Archbishop of Trier as Imperial Chancellor for Burgundy</p><p><br /></p><p>4. The King of Bohemia as Erzmundschenk (= Cup bearer)</p><p>5. The Count Palatine of the Rhine as Truchsess</p><p>6. The Duke of Saxony as Marschall (= head of the stables)</p><p>7. The Margrave of Brandenburg as Erzkämmerer (= Chamberlain)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The last 4 are the so called &quot;Hofämter&quot; (= court offices). In addition there was&nbsp; a further court office that was not held by an electoral prince. This was the office of &quot;Reichssturmfähnrich und Vorstreiter des Kaisers&quot; (=primicerius et signifer regis). The long title may be translated as &quot;Imperial war/storm banner bearer and leader of the first charge&quot;. The office was heriditary with the Counts of Grüningen. It was a highly prestigious office, but, as one would expect, many holders of this office paid for the honor with their lifes.</p><p><br /></p><p>As the title implies the Reichs-Sturm-Fähnrich bears the &quot;Reichssturmfahne&quot; (= imperial storm banner/battle flag) and exercises the so called &quot;Vorstreitrecht&quot;, i.e. the right to lead the first charge in a battle. No wonder that the electoral princes were not so keen on this office.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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