This is a new coin I just recieved that is of a type commonly referred to as a "city view" ducat. Several of the German States (many of these states were actually cities ie. Mainz) minted coins of this type in the 1700 & 1800s. This coin is very prooflike and beautiful in hand with a strong strike and mirrored fields. German State of Mainz 1795 Ducat NGC MS64 PL
That is a very beautiful coin! bearing the city's old latin name - Moguntiacum. 2000 years old, Moguntiacum (called Mainz in present day german, or Mayence by the occupying French Republican Troops 1792) was founded by the Roman General Nero Claudius Drusus in 12/13 B.C, and was the seat of the XIV Legion (Gemina Martia Victrix) for close to 4 centuries until destroyed by the Germanic invasions in the 4th century. Sorry for the degression Silvereagle82 - you have a beautiful coin there of a nice city. (pity it does not look that way anymore!) Regards, Eduard
Nice piece; I like such city views. Keep in mind, however, that Mainz (the country or state) was quite a bit more than just the city. These maps show where the Electorate of Mainz was at about that time; look for "Kurfürstentum Mainz" (in the middle) here ... http://www.hoeckmann.de/imagesdeutsch/swhessen.gif ... and for "Kfsm. Mainz" (at the bottom) here: http://www.hoeckmann.de/imagesdeutsch/nhessen.gif And as Eduard mentioned, when the ducat was made, the city of Mainz was not even ruled by Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal (who is depicted on the piece). Shortly after the 1789 French revolution, he and his administration moved or fled to Aschaffenburg. The city of Mainz, which is shown on the other side, first became a (short lived) democratic republic, and later part of France for a couple of years ... Christian
Thanks Eduard and Chrisild for sharing those historical facts on Mainz.:bow: That's what's great about this forum ... sharing knowledge. I am always looking for historical and/or interesting facts about coins in my collection! Eduard (or anyone else for that matter), you cleared up one question I had regarding the reverse legend ... "MOGVANTIA" = city's old latin name - Moguntiacum, so what would be the latin translation of "AVREA" ??
Silvereagle, 'Aurea Moguntiae' would translate as 'Gold from Mainz' . 'Aureus' is the latin word for Gold. For example, the Aureus was also the roman name for their main gold coin denomination. In the 18th century, as another example, some german gold coins carried the additional description 'Aureus Rheni' to denote the fact the coin was minted from gold washed from the Rhine river. Regards, Eduard
