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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;talerman, post: 3298468, member: 89314&quot;]1537 Germany WURTTEMBERG Ulrich&nbsp;&nbsp; Taler with c/m (64 Kreuzer)</p><p><br /></p><p>Ulrich had a turbulent life. His mother died in childbirth and his father was mentally deranged. He succeeded his uncle Eberhard III as Duke of Württemberg in 1498 at the age of 11 and was declared of age in 1503. In 1511 he married Sabina of Bavaria, niece of Emperor Maximilian. Unhappy with the marriage, Ulrich was attracted to the wife of Hans van Hutten but in an altercation in 1515 killed Hans. Sabina fled from her husband and sought help from the Emperor and her brother Wilhelm IV of Bavaria. Ulrich was twice put under Imperial ban under which you were legally considered dead, and anyone was allowed to rob, injure or kill you without legal consequences. Unpopular with his subjects, the Swabian League finally drove Ulrich from Württemberg in 1519 and sold his territory to Emperor Charles V. Ulrich then spent time in Switzerland, France &amp; Germany in what Wikipedia describes as brigand exploits and in the service of France. He tried to invade Württemberg in 1525 with an army of mainly Swiss and French soldiers but failed and again became a fugitive,. Having converted to the Reformed Church, he became friends with one of the Protestant leaders, Philip of Hesse.&nbsp; The Thirty Years&#039; War was now in full swing and In 1534 he and Philip of Hesse invaded Württemberg again and&nbsp; defeated the Imperial forces at Lauffen.&nbsp; Ferdinand, Emperor Charles V&#039;s brother and the&nbsp; Habsburg Archduke of Austria, agreed to recognize Ulrich as Duke of&nbsp; Württemberg again&nbsp; but only under Austrian suzerainty.</p><p><br /></p><p>We now finally get to the circumstances of the countermark on Ulrich&#039;s Taler.&nbsp; As duke, Ulrich quickly implemented the doctrines of Luther, especially the seizure of church property to help his impoverished exchequer. He also increased taxation and, not content with that, struck debased coinage.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some of these Talers and Half Talers , along with debased coinage of other German mints, came to circulate in Tyrol in Austrian territory, competing with the good local coins struck at Hall.&nbsp; As a short-term measure Emperor Charles V made use of his suzerainty over Württemberg and&nbsp; ordered that these Talers and Halbtalers should be countermarked with an Imperial eagle to make their true&nbsp; value (64 Kreuzer instead of 68) visible to everyone.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]873281[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]873282[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>1535 Germany BRUNSWICK-WOLFENBUTTEL&nbsp; Heinrich the Younger</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]873283[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]873284[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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