Hungary: silver “Madonna & Child” denar of Rudolf II, 1577-KB

Hungary: silver “Madonna & Child” denar of Rudolf II, 1577-KB


Numista-47622. 15 mm approx., 0.6 g.

A pleasing and affordable little piece of early-dated hammered silver. It is crudely struck as was typical, but has nice detail. The way the strike came out on this one, the Madonna (Virgin Mary) here looks like she has a grinning skull for a face! Baby Jesus is rather lost in the design, though you can see His arm and leg.

This coin bears the name and titles of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, who ruled from 1564-1576, though he had died the year before. It was struck in the reign of his successor, Rudolf II, who ruled from 1576-1612.

These are an appealingly affordable way to collect early-dated hammered silver. At one time I was working on a date set of them.