EARLY MODERN GOLD COINS

EARLY MODERN
GOLD COINS
From the Deutsche Bundesbank Collection

DEUTSCHE BUNDESBANK · FRANKFURT AM MAIN

Design by Giesecke & Devrient GmbH, Munich
Text Ursula Hagen-Jahnke and Reinhold Walburg
with Annelore Schmidt
Photography Manfred Czastka and Ernst Balke
English translation Edward Besly

© 1985 Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt am Main

All rights reserved, particulary those of reproduction, distribution and translation. No part
of this publication may be reproduced in any form (by photocopying, storage on microfilm
or by any other means) or adapted, reproduced or distributed electronically without the
prior permission of the Deutsche Bundesbank.
ISBN 3-921839-52-1
Distributed by Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt am Main
Printed by Giesecke & Devrient, Munich
CONTENTS

Page
Foreword VII
The History of Early Modern Gold Coinage IX
The European States X
The Ottoman Empire XXII
The Asiatic States XXIV
Coinage Design XXVIII
Sources of Gold XXXII
The Manufacture of Coinage XXXIV
Coin-balances XXXVI
Postscript XXXIX

Plates 1-79 with explanatory text Plate

Gold coins of the European States 1-68
Gold coins of the Ottoman Empire 69-72
Gold coins of the Asiatic States 73-79

Appendix
Family Tree of the "Pistole"
Description and illustration of a Coin-balance from Berg
Table of coinage standards

Bibliography
FOREWORD

With this volume the Deutsche Bundesbank continues its long-standing series
of publications about coins and banknotes from the collection of its Geld-
museum. At the same time, the sequence of books on gold coins latterly pub-
lished within the scope of this series is herewith completed by the publication of
a third one. The first two volumes on this theme (published in 1980 and 1982)
were devoted to ancient and medieval issues; the present volume has early
modern gold coins for its subject.
Geographically it embraces both European countries and countries producing
gold coins in other parts of the world. The issues in the old south and central
American regions are inserted among the chronologically-arranged eo ins of the
0 ld World, since from the start they had an occidental character. The gold eo ins
of the Otto man Empire and those of the Asiatic states are presented separately,
because of their independent development.
The period dealt with extends from about 1500 until the 19th century. Conse-
quently all the gold eo ins illustrated fall historically into the period of"modern
history': the early modern period: the era of "contemporary history" (the
modern) is not considered at all. Thus while the beginning of our presenta-
tion (the early 16th century) follows on in direct chronological sequence from
the previous volume on medieval gold coinage, the end is fluid. We were unable
to choose a single formal chronological break but, on factual grounds, took
several different ones, often because of geographically distinct political and
politico-economic developments, or on account of definite alterations in the
technique of coinage manufacture. Thus the collapse of the monetary economy
in 1820/21 and the cessation of the issue of zecchini which went with it form the
conclusion for the Otto man Empire, whereas in the Asian countries the termin-
ation does not come until the transition to European coinage-forms in the
course of the 19th century, forexample inJapanin 1860. For Europe several facts
mark our chronological boundary: on the one hand, the introduction of
coining in a closed collar from 1815 is a major technical innovation. On the
other, new rich gold min es in various parts of the world led to an alteration in
the basis of the currency in many countries; silver was replaced by gold as the

VII
standard currency metal. For example, England officially went over to the
gold standard in 1816: as a sign of this changeover, the sovereign superseded
the guinea. In addition, there was during the century a gradual transformation
of the system of nations in the Americas, as well as in Europe (Italy, Belgium,
the Netherlands, the north Balkans, later also Germany) and there were
accompanying breaks in the monetary system at different times, according to
circumstances.
As in the previous volumes, the gold coins are illustrated enlarged in 79 colour
plates and explained in detail. For this we have primarily selected such pieces
from our collection as were important for the development of the monetary
system or are especially interesting historically or on account of their designs.
Their degree of rarity or value has not been taken into account.
We are grateful to Dr. Lutz Ilisch of Basle and Nicholas Lowick of the British
Museum in London for their help in describing the Otto man and Indian coins.
Mr. Takefumi Emori, deputy representative of the Bank of Japan in Frankfurt,
has kindly and generously assisted us in the treatment of the Japanese pieces.
Our thanks are further due to Professor Ruth Altheim-Stiehl of Münster, who
checked the correct rendering of the Hebrew inscriptions.

Frankfurt am Main, December 1985

VIII
THE HISTORY OF EARLY MODERN GOLD COINAGE

"Gold is excellent above all; from gold comes great wealth, and with it whoever
possesses it can do anything in the world that he wishes ... " wrote Christopher
Columbus to the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Even if
the fleets subsequently arriving at the then seaport of Seville bearing the gold
and silver treasures of Peru and Mexico did not, as prophesied, bring lasting
wealth and power to the Spanish kingdom, they and the later Portuguese
precious metal imports from Brazil were nevertheless decisive in shaping the
development of the monetary economy and financial and commercial struc-
ture of the European states. With the successful voyages of discovery, the
economic centre of gravity first shifted westward from the Mediterranean area
and the Upper Italian cities (Florence, Genoa, Venice) to the Iberian peninsula
and then moved northward to the N etherlands, and later to England. The centre
of trade was at first Antwerp, after whose decline in the second half of the
16th century Amsterdam became the principal emporium for precious metals
and Europe's leading money market. The Wissel bank, founded there in 1609,
became one of the first important clearing banks north of the Alps.
Impressive though the quantity of gold which flowed into Europe may have
been, in the context of the various national monetary systems it was only of
secondary importance. As in the Middle Ages, it was silver - of which many
territories had their own supplies - that provided the real basis of the currency.
Until the beginning of the 19th century, when many countries went over to
the gold standard, coins made of gold were used mainly for two reasons:
firstly as a medium of exchange in international relations of the most diverse
kinds, and secondly to satisfy the rulers' desire to project a prestigious image
by the issue of large and magnificent coins.

IX
THE EUROPEAN STATES

The principal gold coin of the German Empire during the 15th century was
the Gulden, which was established in imitation of the florins emanating
from Florence (see Vol. II, pp. XV ff.). Its coinage was particularly extensive in
the four Rhenish Electorates of Mainz, Trier, Cologne and the Palatinate.
Incorporated in their monetary union from 1385, this gold coin became a
standard currency as the "Rhenish Gulden''. The abbreviation commonly
used for this (fl. rh. = florenus rhenanus) is retained to this day in the
sign fl for the N etherlands guilder.
Increasing shortage of gold led on the one hand to a reduction in the output
of the Rhenish mints and on the other to a gradual reduction in fine-
ness. By 1500 this had dropped from its original 23 carats (= 958/1000) to
18 V2 carats (= 771/1000), i.e. by a fifth, and the fine weight was now only 2.53 g
out of a gross weight of 3.28 g. The Rhenish Gulden thereby lost its function
as a well-known and stable measure of value and that of a leading currency. In
addition, this coin was eventually valued only by its gold content, and no
account was taken of its increasing and likewise valuable proportion of silver,
which finally amounted to 4 carats and 5 grains.
The first imperial coinage decree, published in Esslingen in 1524, again set the
fineness of the Gulden at 22 carats. The intention was to standardise the monet-
ary system in the many territorial states into which the German Empire had
splintered, but this regulation was ignored. Competition arose for the Gulden
from the end of the 15th century, in the form of the large silver coins struck, first
in the Tyrol and then in Saxony, on the basis of an increase in the output of the
metal. As their names Guldiner and Guldengroschen indicate, they were the
equivalent of the Gulden (Gulden means "golden" or "the golden one"). These
coins were incorporated into the monetary system by the 16th-century imperial
coinage decrees and eventually, as the Reichstaler, became the principal cur-
rency-coin. In the second imperial coinage decree, finalised in Augsburg in 1551,
the Gulden was called Goldgulden, to distinguish it from the silver types. Its
original exchange rate was 60 Kreuzers, but this could not be maintained, and
was annulled by the third imperial coinage decree, issued in Augsburg in 1559.

X
The reason lay in the altered gold: silver ratio, which had moved since 1551
from 1 : 10 7/s to 1 : 11 V2. The price of gold coins as currency metal fluctuated
with respect to the silver. The extent to which the Goldgulden had mean-
while decreased in importance is indicated by the introduction of a second
imperial gold coin, namely the ducat, which will be considered below.
Nevertheless, the coinage of Goldgulden continued until well into the
17th century. In some cases Goldgulden and ducats were issued simultaneously
(Plate 3), while in others the ducat superseded the Goldgulden, as in the cities
of Frankfurt and Magdeburg (Plates 29 and 38).
With two gold types of differing fineness, dealings in everyday monetary circu-
lation were certainly not easy, especially since values were not shown on the
eo ins. N evertheless, the d ucat was worth 104 Kreuzers, whereas the Goldgulden
was officially rated at 72 Kreuzers. They could not even be distinguished on the
basis of their designs: there were coining authorities which issued both deno-
minations simultaneously, struck from the same dies.
Outside the German Empire, Goldgulden were occasionally issued in Denmark
andin the Netherlands. However, the Carolusgulden introduced herein 1521
by Charles V, and issued in great numbers, was clearly inferior to the imperial
coin, having a weight of 2.91 g and a fineness of 583/1000 (Plate 5).
At the end of the 17th century, the Electorate of Bavaria took up the coining of
Goldgulden afresh. From 1715 they were issued as double pieces (the so-called
Max d'or) and from 1726 in triple weight and value as weil. The latter was called
the Karl d'or or Carolin after its issuer, the Elector Charles Albert (Plate 48).
They were larger and heavier than the ducat. Their prototype was the French
Louis d'or, but they did not follow it in standard. The fineness prescribed for the
Carolin was 18 1/z carats (= 771/1000). 24 pieces were to be struck from the
Cologne mark of 233.856 g (the weight basis of the coinage, fixed by the
imperial coinage decree of Esslingen in 1524), which resulted in a nominal
weight of 9.74 g per coin. There were also half and quarter Carolins, which were
subject to the same conditions. The Carolin and its fractions were to be
worth 10, 5 and 2 V2 Gulden respectively, or 5 Talers, a value on issue which was
set too high for a circulating coin. In Regensburg the full Bavarian Carolin was
valued in 1738 at 8 Gulden and 50 Kreuzers (i. e. 530 Kreuzers).

XI
Numerous south and west German princes imitated the new Carolin coin-type,
for example Electoral Cologne, the Electoral Rhenish Palatinate, Württemberg,
Hesse, Würzburg and Bamberg. Its varying issues (i. e. diminution of the gold
content) led to uncertainties regarding its tariffing, so that the Carolin failed to
establish itself in the long term. Its striking was abandoned in Bavaria as early as
1737 and after the middle of the 18th century it gradually disappeared from
circulation. However, the Carolin was retained as a coinage of account. After
1750 it represented a sum of eleven Gulden in small change.
The ducat, created in Venice in 1284, was derived in its standard (i.e. weight and
ftneness) from the florin, the Florentine gold coin created 32 years earlier
(see Vol. II, p. XV). Both coins were thus at first equal in value. Unlike the florin
imitations (Goldgulden), the fineness of the ducat did not deteriorate at all.
In Venice itself, its place of origin, it was struck until the end of the Republic
in 1797 with an unaltered design (the Doge kneeling before St.Mark, and Christ
standing), from 1526 with a gross weight slightly reduced to 3.494 g. The ducat
was frequently also called zecchino, from the Italian word zecca (mint). Many
of the larger and smaller Italian states aligned themselves to this coin and struck
this type with their own designs, which were thus able to hold their own as
trading coins in Germany as well during the early modern period. The numer-
ous multiples were conspicuous: in Venice these attained their highest value in
coins of 100 zecchini, with a weight around 350 g, struck und er the last Doges
in the second half of the 18th century. On the other hand, issues of half- and
quarter-ducats were comparatively small. The double ducat is commoner. This,
like the double value of other denominations, was called doppia. As a result, it is
not possible to decide at present whether most of the Italian gold coins bearing
this name were struck to the ducat standard.
The Swiss territories differed considerably from one another in their coinage of
gold. Thus in Zurich (Plate 53) the ducat established itself in the end, while Solo-
thurn (Plate 64 ), for example, issued the duplone or pistole as its main gold coin,
in imitation of the French Louis d'or. The situation in Geneva (Plate 50) was
similar to that in Solothurn: after discontinuing the issue of the ecu d'or, which
was based on French prototypes, and the ecu pistolet, which followed the
Italian pattern, Geneva finally decided to strike the pistole as its sole gold coin.

XII
The ducat spread through Venetian trade as early as the Middle Ages above
all in the eastern Mediterranean, which led there to imitations or issues fol-
lowing this prototype (cf. Vol. II, Plate 29). The Ottoman Empire continued
this tradition. At first it used the Venetian ducat itself for its foreign trade,
and then at the end of the 15th century it introduced a gold coin of its own
based on this coinage standard, whose history is dealt with in more detail on
p. XXIII. The Order of St. John, resident in Malta from 1530, also exclusively
issued ducats identical in design to those ofVenice, until into the 17thcentury
(cf. Plate 55).
The ducat was already established in Aragon in the second half of the
15th century, thanks to the location of that territory in the western Medi-
terranean and its south Italian possessions. In 1497, following a territorial union
brought about through marriage, this initiated the introduction of a gold coin
of the same standard in Castile. lt was known by the name excelente and was
also issued in high er values (Plate2). While the excelente survived in Spain itself
only for four decades, it was taken up in the Southern Netherlands at the end of
the 16th century, as the double ducat, with the same designs (cf. Plate 23).
The rich imports of gold from West Africa and its trade with overseas territories
helped Portugal to economic prosperity in the second half of the 15th century,
and this is reflected in the coinage as well. The first issue of the large 23 314-carat
gold pieces called Portugues in 1499 coincided with Vasco da Gama's home-
coming from his voyage of discovery to India. This gold coin was worth
ten cruzados, which were likewise gold. Reduced in weight to 35 g, it was
comparable toten ducats, and the cruzado to one ducat (Plate 6). A reference in
a Hamburg coin-balance of 1589 confirms this: "the cruzado weighs the same
as the Hungarian Gulden': The Portugues also reached other countries in the
course of trade. In Brussels, during his Netherlands journey in 1520/21, the
painter Albrecht Dürer received two of these pieces, amongst other gold coins,
which he described as "large Portuguese Gulden, each weighing ten ducats'~
Above all, the Portugues influenced northern Germany, where it was exten-
sively imitated (Plate 18 and 20). As well as the single, there were double,
half- and quarter-Portugalöser, worth 20, 5 and 2Vz ducats respectively. How-
ever, they were not so much intended for monetary circulation, but rather as

XIII
gifts. In Hamburg, which from about 1560 issued most of these coins, they
became medallic in the 17th century and have retained the name for this type
of issue until the present. Portugalöser were also issued at times in Denmark
and Sweden.
In Portugal itself the issue of the Portugues was abandoned before the middle
of the 16th century and the fineness of the cruzado reduced twice, finally
to 22 1/s carats in 1555. The cruzado calvario valued at 400 reis is an example of
the new issue (Plate 12). These measures, introduced in a first coinage reform
in 1538, were forced on the Portuguese kingJohn by a massive drain of gold out
of the country, which had various causes. The high-purity coins left the
kingdom and were replaced by a flood of foreign gold coins of lesser value.
In addition there was, for example, the cost of maintaining the Q!ieen mother
and of two dowries CTohn's sister lsabella became the Emperor Charles V's wife,
and his eldest daughter married the later King Philip II), which are said to have
amounted to 1,400,000 cruzados; as well as the Emperor Charles V's later
attempt, prompted by the lack of money occasioned by his permanent wars, to
get his hands on as much Portuguese gold as possible from his brother-in-law.
In central and northern Europe the ducat first established itself at the beginning
of the 16th century. The florin or Gulden of gold-rich Hungary, struck un-
changed in quality since 1325, inspired coins of the same value in the Tyrol in
1481 andin Salzburg in 1500 (Plate 3). The Emperor Maximilian I incorporated
them into the Austrian coinage system in a coinage decree of 1510, and called
them ducats to distinguish them from the Rhenish Gulden and their imitations,
which were sometimes even worse. Under Ferdinand I, the ducat became
from 1527 the sole gold coin in the Austrian territories. The Augsburg Imperial
Coinage Decree of 1559, already referred to, then declared the ducat tobe the
imperial gold coin and laid down the conditions for its issue as follows:
67 pieces were tobe struck from the Cologne mark of233.856g and the fineness
was tobe 23 carats 8 grains. This meant a nominal weight of 3.49 g and a fine
weight of 3.44 g. 'Ducat gold' became established as a term for the fineness
of 23 carats 8 grains or 986.111/1000. The ducat was only tobe struck by imperial
estates that had gold in their territories, a condition which went largely un-
needed. The ducat, at 104 Kreuzers, was favourably tariffed by comparison

XIV
with the Goldgulden of 72 Kreuzers, and this eventually helped it to triumph
over the Goldgulden. From the middle of the 17th century the ducat was
virtually the only gold coin in the Empire. Still struck today at the Vienna mint,
there have been ducats for 700 years. The Venetian designs were not imitated
north of the Alps: only the name and standard (i. e. weight and fineness) were
adopted.
The most important areas issuing the ducat were Hungary and Austria (Plates 17
and 53), the German Empire (Plates 27, 33, 38,43, 68) and the northern Nether-
lands (Plates 35 and 52). lt was issued not only as the single value (Plates 38
and 68), but also as fractions (Plate 43) down to V32 and as multiples (Plates 25,27
and 39). The last were particularly common in the 17th and 18th centuries. They
principally served the purpose of gifts and are an expression of an increased
requirement for display. Extensive and splendid series were produced in gold-
rich Transylvania (Plate 25) and in Bohemia, which in 1629 struck its highest
value, a piece of 100 ducats.
The data prescribed for the ducat by the Imperial Coinage Decree of1559 were
binding only for the coinage-states of the German Empire. The issues of neigh-
bouring areas and coinage-states took their pattern from this standard, but as
a rule they were lower in fineness (Plate 53). This is especially true of the ducat
introduced in the northern Netherlands in imitation of the Empire: despite
a reverse legend assuring "according to the imperial standard" it did not satisfy
this claim. lt was struck in great numbers in the northern Netherlandish
provinces from 1586, and sometimes also as the double ducat. lt was imitated
not only here (Plate 35) but above all in the northern and eastern European
countries it reached as a trading coin during the 17th and 18th centuries
(Plates 34, 58, 60, 66). In Russia it was even faithfully imitated for over a
century as the "Dutch chervonets" (as this gold ducat-type coin was called)
with recognised, if hidden status: in the mint documents it was referred to as a
"well-known coin'~ Numerous contemporary forgeries, for instance of gilded
silver, also testify to the popularity of this Netherlands ducat.
The ducat was not accepted at all in France. The principal gold coin in this
countrywas the ecu d'or(shield), alreadystruckduringthe Middle Ages. Itowed
its name, which was now and then more closely defined by symbols and design

XV
varieties, to the French fleurs-de-lys arms on its obverse (Plates 4 and 9). The ecu
d'or remained the sole French gold coin until 1640. The ecu was, incidentally,
also struck as a silver coin after 1640 and its issue in gold was finally abandoned
during the 1650s. The issue of double and single Henris d'or, a type completely
different in both weight and design, begun in 1550, only lasted about a decade
(Plate 13). From 1519 the fineness of the ecu d'or remained constant at 23 carats,
while the number of pieces tobe struck from a Paris or Troyes mark (244.753 g)
was increased in 1575 from 71 1/6 to 72 V2, meaning a slight reduction in
the nominal weight to 3.38 g. In contrast to this, the value of the coin was
constantly raised, as a result of the increases in the price of gold. While in 1519 it
was still set at 40 sols (sous), in 1640 it amounted to 5 livres 4 sols tournois
(104 sols tournois), i. e. it had more than doubled.
Until 1550, more gold than silver was struck in France; afterwards this pro-
portion was reversed. The manufacture of gold coinage took place partly
in Paris, but mainly in southern French mints such as Bayonne, Toulouse,
Montpellier and Lyon, i. e. near the borders of the gold-rich monarchies of the
Iberian peninsula, upon which the country was dependent because of the lack
of its own deposits of metal. At first the gold came via Portugal from the Sudan
and Ethiopia, and after the Spanish conquests from the American territories.
The ecu d'or was one of the coin types current beyond France's frontiers which
played an important part in the international monetary circulation of the time,
and was frequently listed in German coinage tariffs. lt also arrived in the
German Empire in considerable amounts as bribes, for instance for the Imperial
elections due in 1519, or as subsidies. The estate of the Franconian margrave
Albert Alcibiades, who died in 1557, included 682 Portuguese cross-ducats
(cruzados: Plate 12), also 374 French crowns of the sun, as theywere called here.
A coin hoard buried around 1535, found in 1969 at Werfen in the Salzburg area,
consisted of a total of 771 gold and 249 silver coins. Of the 378 examples
of French origin, 244 were issues of King Francis I alone, principally from
southern French mints. Many European countries imitated the ecu d'or.
lt spread in Italy, starting with the issues of the French Kings Louis XII and
Francis I in Genoa and Milan respectively at the beginning of the 16th century
(Plate 4). These issues, which embraced a remarkable number of multiples,

XVI
covered the whole peninsula, from the scudo veneto introduced in Venice in
1528 to the south, and here partially displaced the ducat as the main gold coin
(Plates 7, 11, 31, 41). For these scudi the name and occasionally the design were
taken over fro m France. Outwardly, the scudo was distinguished from the ducat
solely by its larger diameter and the smaller thickness of the metal disc. There
are no investigations into the coinage standard of the Italian scudi. lt is known
for Scotland, England, Spain and the N etherlands: averaging 22 carats and
lower, it lies below the French statutory norm of23 carats (cf.Plates 8, 10 and 30).
The displacement of high-fineness gold coins in England and _Spain by the
French ecu d'or led to the introduction in both countries, through coinage
refo rms in 1526 and 153 7, of denominations of explicitly equal value, the crown
and the escudo or corona. England for a long time struck coins of fine gold
of 23 314 carats and "crown gold" of 22 carats (compare Plates 10, 15 and 19).
The English crown was struck until the end of the hammered coinage in 1662.
The silver crown was introduced as its equivalent in si~ver in 1551. lt was worth
five shillings and corresponded to the German Taler.
The escudo created in 1537 became the standard gold unit in Spain. King
Philip II, son and successor of the Emperor Charles V, introduced the double
escudo or doblon and the fourfold escudo in 1566. The eightfold multiple, the
onza or quadrupla, with which Philip III enlarged the series in 1614, was coined
p articularly frequently in the Spanish-American colonies. Its weight of
about 27 g reflected the vast gold wealth of the New World (Plates 45 and 54).
The double escudo in particular influenced the monetary system of the
European countries in the 17th and 18th centuries. lt was imitated from the
island of Malta in the south to N orway in the north, as can be seen in the fam-
ily tree set out in the Appendix. France played a decisive part in this wide
dissemination, by introducing the Louis d'or (based on its example) with
the decree of 31 March 1640 (Plate 32). The fineness of 22 carats, laid down
by law, was as a rule not achieved. A year later a silver coin was created, also to the
Spanish standard: the ecu d'argent, which corresponded to the German Taler.
Under Louis XIV the Louis d'or, with its fractions and multiples, became a
global coin and was struck as the sole gold coin until the end of the monarchy
in 1792. Like the earlier ecu d'or, the Louis d'or had many varieties, e.g. Louis

XVII
de Noailles, Louis aux lunettes. In the 18th century, while the fineness
remained the same, the nominal weight (originally 6.7 5 g) changed several tim es.
For example, it was increased in 1709 to 8.16 g for the Louis au soleil and
reduced to 7. 64 g in 1785 for the Louis ecu (cf. Plate 6 7). These alterations in
weight, regularly accompanied by increases in value, were apparently also
reflected in the issues of other coinage states (Plates 50, 55 and 64).
With the so-called "Reformations': beginning in 1689, many Louis d'or
streamed into the German Empire (Plate 44). In south and west Germany they
engendered imitations from 1715 in the previously-mentioned Max d'or and
the lower-fineness C arolin (Plate 48); in north Germany a type of coin was
issued copying the old Louis d'or of 1640, commonly known as the pistole (the
origin of the word has not been solved) or following the French example named
after the respective issuing ruler, such as the Prussian Wilhelm d'or and Friedrich
d'or or the Saxon August d'or (Plates 49 and 61). The table in the Appendix
gives information about the various coinage standards, which differ slightly.
The original value of five Talers appeared on the pistole even when this indica-
tion was no longer true because of the increasing price of gold. The valuation of
the double August d'or shows this, with its inscription as 10 Talers, although
in 1779 it was only valued at 9 Talers 16 Groschen. Moreover, the increase in the
gold price found its counterpart in a reduction in the price of silver. Pistoles
were struck in great numbers until into the 19th century and established them-
selves as trading coins alongside ducats.
With the reform of 1722, Portugal too aligned itself with the Spanish system
and introduced half-, single and multiple escudos. The highest denomination
was the dobra of eight escudos, which was given a value of 12,800 reis, the
Portuguese unit of account (Plate 62). Its weight of 28.68 g was about half that
of the dobräo, which is one of the heaviest gold coins, representing a quintuple
moeda (Plate 40). This dobräo was struck principally in the years between 1724
and 172 7 at the Brazilian mint of Minas Gera es, which was specially set up for
immediate exploitation of the immense amounts of gold occurring there.
The handbooks published for merchants and bankers at the end of the
18th century and the beginning of the 19th called it the old pistole to distinguish
it from the dobra, and frequently mention that the whole and half dobräos

XVIII
(the two highest values) are very rare in Lisbon; from 1822 they were melted
down again.
On the other hand, the escudo made no impact on the evolution of monetary
history in England and the N etherlands, which turned themselves into the
leading economic and maritime powers in Europe and have an especially rich
and diverse gold coinage. During the long reign of Qpeen Elizabeth I of
England there were nine denominations, partly in 23. 9 carat fine gold and partly
in 22 carat crown gold (Plate 15), as well as eleven silver denominations. The
biggest and most beautiful coin in this series was the fine-gold sovereign, intro-
duced in 1489, which cannot disclaim its medieval origin (Plate 19). The output
of crown gold was eight times greater than that of fine gold: coins of fine gold
served internal circulation, the others external trade. The practice of issuing
coins of two different finenesses parallel to one another ended in the middle of
the 17th century. In 1663 the guinea was introduced as the principal gold coin,
taking its name from the country of origin (Guinea) of the gold chiefly used at
first. lt was reduced in weight compared with the preceding issues, the laurel
and unite (cf. Plates 28 and 36). In 1816, when gold standard was introduced in
England, a new sovereign replaced the guinea. The guinea, calculated as 21 shil-
lings, survived until our own day for the settlement of fines in English courts.
The issue of gold coinage in the N etherlands was even more extensive than
in England, consisting until 1612 of 21 different denominations (Plates 5, 16
and 23). The gold crown, introduced in 1540 by Charles V and imitating the
French ecu d'or, survived the longest, and was also taken up by neighbouring
coin-issuers (Plate 30). The low fineness of only 583/1000 chosen for individual
issues is remarkable. The heaviest coins (7. 65 g and 7. 21 g respectively) are the
Rosenobel ofEnglish type and the double ducat copying the Spanish (cf.Vol.II,
Plate 52; Plates 2 and 23). In the 17th century the wealth of types melted away.
The souverain, whose name and initially also design were taken from the
English sovereign, became established in the Spanish southern provinces
(Plates 19, 26, 3 7 and 63). In the northern United Provinces, the principal
currency coin was the ducat already mentioned (Plates 35 and 52), alongside
which the rijder (which was struck to the standard of the English unite) circu-
lated from time to time (Plate 57).

XIX
The Netherlands coinage of gold and silver was also sizeable in quantity, based
on the market in precious metal, which was traded in the international centres
of Antwerp (at first) and later Amsterdam. Portuguese and mainly Spanish
escudos, irregular and imperfect, because of a ban on the export of unminted
gold (Plate 8) supplied the material. The role played in the Netherlands
by foreign gold during the 16th and 17th centuries is exemplified by two coin
finds. A hoard buried in the middle of the 16th century at Amersfoort (Utrecht
province) consisted of 2,015 silver and 3,662 gold coins from the period
between 1415 and 1557. Of the latter, a fifth was foreign coin of English, French,
Spanish and German origin which, consisting of denominations larger than the
Netherlands ones, made up half the value of the hoard. A cache of 1,150 gold
coins hidden about 70 years later at Serooskerke (Zeeland province) consisted
of Netherlands, Portuguese, Moroccan, Italian, German, Austrian, Hungarian
and Polish issues and a conspicuously large number of English and Spanish
types, especially high-value ones, such as rose nobles, unites (cf. Plate 28),
single, double and quadruple escudos and double ducats (cf. Plates 2 and 8)
with a date range of 200 years.
Foreign gold streamed into the territories not only through trade and
commerce, but also in the wars, as soldiers' wages andin the form of subsidies.
Political and religious connections, dynastic entanglements and personal
relations promoted the influx and distribution of foreign types, which circulat-
ed to a greater or lesser extent alongside a country's own issues. Since the value
of a coin depended on its fineness as weil as its weight, regular examinations,
whose results were published, were required for all circulating coins (domestic
and foreign). These so-called valuation tables or coin tariffs, which fixed the
value of foreign coins in the local currency, first appeared in printed, placard
form in the Netherlands at the end of the 15th century. They were the fore-
runners of the exchange list. A last great tariffing of all domestic and foreign
gold and silver coins in circulation took place for the German Empire during
the Imperial Diet at Regensburg in 1737-1738. The gold: silver ratio was set
at 1: 15.10, and the ducat of four Gulden placed on a par with two Reichstalers,
each of two Gulden. For example, according to the report, which runs to many
pages, a royal Spanish quadrupla (the 8-escudo piece) had an actual fineness

XX
Illustration from Leonhard Wilibald Hoffmann's Alter und Neuer Münz-Schlüssel Nuremberg 1692

XXI
of21 carats 7 grains and from this a value of28 Gulden 45 Kreuzers; a Louis d'or
was 21 carats 10 grains (22 carats was prescribed by law) and was tariffed
at 7 Gulden 3 Kreuzers.
For merchants, who needed a good knowledge of the circulating money for
their business, books appeared from the end of the 16th century, some of them
voluminous. In these the authors listed the coins available to them with their
appearance and details of value. One such publication is the "Alter und Neuer
Münz-Schlüssel" ofLeonhard Wilibald Hoffmann, which appeared in Nurem-
berg in 1692, from which a page reproducing English, Spanish and Netherlands
gold coins is illustrated on page XXI.

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

The Ottoman Empire, which started as a small principality in western Asia

Minor, and whose later heartland forms present-day Turkey, became the suc-
cessor of the Byzantine Empire after the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
With the capture of Cairo in 1517 it came into possession of the former Mamluk
territories in the western and southern Mediterranean area and on the Red Sea.
The Ottoman Empire was at its most extensive around the year 1683. In the
north, the whole of the Balkans, including regions of Hungary, was under its
control, together with virtually all the territories bordering the Black Sea to the
north and east. The whole of Iraq and western parts of present-day Iran, as well
as the northern coast of Africa as far as Morocco, likewise belonged to the
sultan's sphere of influence. Besides Rhodes and Cyprus, of the larger eastern
Mediterranean islands even Crete was in Turkish hands by 1669.
However, the ever-increasing geographical expansion was not accompanied by
internal strength. The stability of the national budget could no longer be
guaranteed under Sulayman I {1520-1566). In 1605, under Sultan Ahmed I,
expenses were twice as high as receipts, which were estimated at around three
thousand million zecchini. In this period the number of silver coins, known as
akc;e, which corresponded to a gold coin, was increased from 50 to 60 and then

XXII
to 300; later, the rate is 400 and more. Attempts at stabilisation were wrecked by
mismanagement and the cost of war. In 1821, under Mahmud II, the monetary
system finally collapsed altogether.
The first Ottoman gold coin, the Altm, was initially issued 25 years after the
capture of Constantinople, in the year 882 Hijra (AD 14 77 /78). Mehmed II
followed here a course already pursued by the Mamluks in 1408/9: he aligned
the weight and fineness of the gold coinage with the zecchino (the Venetian
ducat), which had become the leading currency in the Levant. Only his coins
bore the year of issue as date. A little later a second type was issued, with exactly
the same value as the first, but distinguished from it by its inscriptions. Both
were struck alongside each other until the end of the 17th century.
A first reform of the gold coinage was begun under Mustafa II and completed
by the following sultan, Ahmed III. Coins copying the Venetian zecchini were
retained; nevertheless, their appearance was altered (Plate 70). Alongside the
designation Zer-i Istanbul they were also known as »Fmd1q Altm1«. There can
only be speculation about the meaning of this name, but the sequence of
consonants in the word Fmd1q could well refer to the name "Venice" and
thus to the origin and value of this gold coin, the more so since at the same time
a second standard coin of 2.6 g was issued for the first time. This was therefore
about lg lighter, and bore the name Zer-i Mal;büb (Plate 71). Under Ahmed III,
there were for the first time fractions and multiples of the Fmd1q.
Gold coins of the design introduced under Mustafa II and Ahmed III remained
in circulation until 'Abdu'l-mej1d's currency reform ofFebruary 1844. However,
fineness and weight were greatly reduced. Thus the last issues of the original
Zer-i Maqbüb standard were produced in 1820/21 (1236 Hijra). Thereafter the
value dropped: while the weight was reduced to 1.50 g, the fineness was at the
same time diminished from 800/1000 to 748/1000.
The zecchino thus served as the prototype for the gold coinage of the Ottoman
Empire for more than 300 years. Developments in north-western Africa were
not so clear-cut. The Maghreb lands could not be bound firmly to the Sublime
Porte in Istanbul because of their geographical remoteness and so went
their own way, especially with regard to the fineness of their issues, which was
generally lower.

XXIII
Alongside domestic issues, Venetian zecchini were found at all times in circu-
lation within the sphere of influence of the Ottoman Empire. Under Sultan
Sulayman II, testing of all coins was begun in 1688, occasioned by the appear-
ance of large numbers of forgeries of these pieces. Genuine ones, furnished
with the countermark "sal:il/ (regular, flawless) were returned to circulation.
The use of foreign coins resulted from the lack of native gold and the resulting
inability to produce sufficient quantities of domestic issues.

THE ASIATIC STATES

Unlike the situation in Europe, there were only a few states in Asia with an
extensive domestic gold coinage. Foremost amongst these may be mentioned
the Mughal Empire in north and central India, the south Indian territories and
the Empire of Japan.
The beginnings of the Mughal Empire in India lie in the first half of the
16th century. Expelled from Transoxania (now the Soviet Republic ofUzbekis-
tan), the successors of the Mongol Tamerlane settled in present-day Afghanistan
in 1505, and from there twenty years later set out on the conquest of India.
Mughal domination was first consolidated by Akbar, who ascended the throne
at the age of fourteen and who at the end of his fifty-year reign was ruler of north
and central India as far as the edge of the Deccan uplands, which divide the sub-
continent into a northern and a southern half. The sequence of great Mughal
emperors began with him, and came to an end with the death of Aurangzeb
in 1707. True, the Empire survived in name until 1857, but Aurangzeb's suc-
cessors became more and more dependent upon the ever-expanding British
East India Company. From 1765 the English were the real rulers of the former
great Mughal Empire. In 1857, following the so-called Indian Mutiny, India
became part of the British Empire.
The gold coinage of the Mughal Empire began under Akbar. With the mohur
(Persian muhr = seal), he created in 1562 a standard coin whose weight survived
virtually unaltered until the end of the dynasty in 1857. Its nominal weight lay

XXIV
around 11 g, but in most cases was not achieved. The value of the mohur was
essentially determined by its fineness. We learn from Abu'l-Fazl, friend and bio-
grapher of the emperor, that the coin issued c. 990/ 1000 fine by Akbar (Plate 74)
was the equivalent of nine silver rupees. Although no information of this kind
is at our disposal for Farrukh Siyar's issues, we may assume that his mohur
was tariffed at a lower value than Akbar's, on account of its reduced fineness
of c. 950 / 1000.
As well as the single value, mohurs were also issued as multiples and fractions.
The largest-known denomination ever produced, a single piece of Shah Jahan's
which is now lost, had a nominal value of200 mohurs. lts diameterwas 13.6cm
and its estimated weight around 2kg. This issue was thus a purely representative
coin, and the same applies to the 20-, 50- and 100-mohur pieces. Fractions exist-
ed down to 1
/64 of the single value.
Akbar's initial issues remain completely in the tradition of their Mongol ances-
tors, with broad, relatively thin fabric, the obverse dominated by the Kalimah
(the formula "There is no god but God, Mohammad is the prophet of God"),
and the reverse giving his name, as well as the mint and year of issue. As a conces-
sion to the wishes of the populace, Akbar very soon had his coins struck thicker
and correspondingly smaller in diameter. But since the old dies continued to
be used, the obverse legend with the names and honorific titles of the first
four caliphs disappeared from the new issues. Through this diminution of the
original coin-design, the statements on the reverse appear only incompletely.
A change took place in 1584. With the introduction of a new, religiously-
inspired dating system known as the Ilähi or divine era, a regnal year calculated
by this method also appeared on the coins, accompanied by the name of the
Persian solar month in which the coin in question was struck. Akbar's successors
reverted to the traditional Hijra-dating. However, some of them still counted
the Ilähi-years for their reign, and placed these on the coins as well. Persian
influence may also be detected in the altered inscriptions. As early as Akbar,
verses in Persian written in Arabic script began to be placed on the reverses of
the coins. An example of this is the illustrated coin of Farrukh Siyar (Plate 76).
On the other hand, Akbar's attempt to introduce square and even rectangular
coins with bowed ends had no lasting impact.

XXV
The independent gold coinage of the Mughal rulers finally came to an end
under Shah Alam (1759-1806). After 1765 the British East India Company in
north India began to manufacture gold and silver coins at the Bengal mint of
Calcutta, which faithfully copied Shah Alam's contemporary issues. The
Company continued to strike these unchanged even after his death, later using
machinery.
Things were similar in south India. From the middle of the 17th century, coins
struck by the British East India Company circulated alongside the native gold
coins, known as pagodas. With the authorisation of the south Indian rulers, the
British issued coins which at first were closely modelled in both their form and
their designs on local prototypes (Plate 78), until the Company issued an inde-
pendent coin-type at the beginning of the 19th century. A few years later the
south Indian gold pagoda had to give wayto the silver rupee as the new standard
com.
Sixteenth-century Japan was characterised by continuous power struggles
between the country's daimyos. Each of these powerful territorial rulers was
anxious to enlarge his estate and with it his prestige and power. These constant
conflicts were terminated by Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582). Using new methods
of warfare, he managed to achieve supremacy among the daimyos and to
eliminate anarchy in the country. However, the final unification of the country
was left to Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616). With his appointment in 1603 as
seii-tai-shögun (Commander in chief against the barbarians), a shögun exer-
cised unlimited central power over the whole of Japan for the first time.
Although the emperor living in Kyoto remained nominally head of state, actual
power lay in the hands of the shögun. Members of the Tokugawa family held
this office in an uninterrrupted sequence until 1868.
To consolidate his power, Tokugawa Ieyasu carried out some radical economic
reforms following his appointment as Shögun. One of these measures also
affected the coinage. Although important daimyos had already begun to have
their own gold coins struck at an earlier period for the territories they ruled, this
right now lay with the shögunate alone. Two mints were set up in Edo (Tokyo)
for the gold coinage. Öbankin were exclusively manufactured at the Obanza
(Plate 77), with two further values, Kobankin (Plate 75) and Ichibukin, pro-

XXVI
duced at the Kinza. Down to the 19th century, four further gold denominations
were added, among them the Nibukin (Plate 79). The syllable "-kin" appended
to the name of the coin means "gold" in J apanese. Tokugawa Ieyasu's gold eo ins,
with their standardised sizes, fixed weights and values stamped or painted on
with ink, were the first official issues current throughout Japan.
Gold perhaps began tobe used as a currency in Japan during the 7th century.
At first gold dust and granules were weighed out and wrapped in sealed paper
packets and bamboo canes. In the course of time a switch was made to the
manufacture of small gold bars and sheets. When a paymentwas made, pieces of
the required weight were cut off from these. The outward appearance of the
Öbankin and Kobankin goes back to the partly oval shape of these sheets. On
account of their high value, the Öbankin never appeared in general circulation.
Only the country's feudal upper crust (and later the rich commercial sector)
made use of them. By contrast, the small gold denominations found a wide dis-
semination. In the old Japanese economy, silver only played a subordinate role
and bore no fixed value-relationship to the gold.
The end of the Tokugawa shögunate and return of governmental power to the
emperor in 1868 was also accompanied by the creation of a completely new
currency system based on the modern Yen.

XXVII
COINAGE DESIGN

During the second half of the 15th century a fundamental change, originating in
Italy, took place in the pictorial design of coinage. In 14 72 the Venetian Doge
Nicolo Tron was the first Italian ruler to have himself portrayed with recognis-
able individual features, on the obverse of a silver coin. Others very soon
followed this example, resulting on the gold coinage too, in such impressive
Renaissance portraits as those of the Sforza of Milan (Plate 1). At the end of the
15th and during the 16th century the transition from medieval to modern visual
composition took effect in very varied forms in different territories. The triple
ducat of the Archbishop of Salzburg is another early example of the new style
(Plate 3). Since Leonhard of Keutschach had travalled in Italy, he perhaps
brought the idea back from there. Yet the profile representations of the two
Spanish rulers on the 4-excelentes piece are heavily bound up with medieval
tradition, being designed in a completely 14th-century style (Plate 2; cf. Vol. II,
Plate 30). On the other hand, when we meet it once again on the 6-ducat piece of
the duchies ofLiegnitz and Brieg (Plate 27), the composition with the two rulers
turned towards each other is impressive. Later, portraits staggered one behind
the other were preferred (Plates 31, 42 and 62). In some countries the intro-
duction of portrait coins was considerably delayed, and coins of traditional
form continued to be produced alongside them. In England, for example
Qieen Elizabeth I had her portrait placed on the obverse of the half-pound
(Plate 15). In contrast, the sovereign, on which the queen is depicted not as an
individual personality but as a type characterised by her symbols of power,
continued to be issued unaltered in the form created in 1489 (Plate 19). One
peculiarity of the English coinage may be remarked: from the second half of the
17th century, the direction faced by the portrait was altered at every change of
ruler. In 16th-century France, a coin with the ruler's portrait was only issued
once, under King Henry II (Plate 13), alongside the principal gold coin, the
ecu d'or. The portrait coin did not find a foothold in France until the creation
by King Louis XIII of the Louis d'or in 1640. Things were different in the Italian
territories, whose die-engravers sometimes created impressive and artistically
excellent portraits of their rulers (Plates 7 and 21). Yet at the same time coins

XXVIII
imitating the French ecu d'or were also issued around the middle of the
16th century (Plate 11).
In the course of time, as the portrait prevailed more and more on the obverse of
the coin, there was likewise for the reverse design an almost universal transition
to filling it with a coat of arms, which sometimes brought together a multiplicity
of heraldic charges (Plates 16, 26, 31, 54). However, designs of different types
were also used: the reverses of the coins were embellished with religious motifs
(for instance Plates 12, 36, 48, 64) as well as those taken from antiquity (Plates 7,
21, 67, 68), views and coats of arms of cities (Plates 18, 20 and 39), even sporadic
elements from the world of chivalry (Plates 1 and 25). France was an exception:
her rulers long remained bound up with medieval tradition in having the initial
letters of their names set in the form of a cross (Plates 13 and 44), as a modi-
fication of the model of their early coins (Plate 9).
During the early modern period legends also became more detailed. As a rule,
the obverse legend mentions the ruler's names and titles, sometimes in highly
abbreviated form (Plates 17, 39 and 49); in some cases they are broken up into
individual letters (Plate 48). There was frequently insufficient room on the
obverse for the numerous titles, so that the legend had tobe continued on the
reverse (e.g.Plates 1, 8,23,26, 30). Normally, however, the illustration on this side
was surrounded by mottoes or texts referring to its design (e. g. Plates 2, 3, 5, 6,
11, 64). A change also took place in the letter-forms: "gothic" letters were
replaced by the clearer and more austere Romanscript. However, the languages
in which the legends were composed were unaffected by this change. Latin,
which was universally understood by the educated, remained predominant, and
only occasionally was the local vernacular language of a country used (Plates 3 6,
46, 51, 58, 66-68). In two cases this shift can be attributed to radical political
changes (Plates 36 and 67).
Closely-dated gold eo ins, i.e. those furnished with an annual date, were still rela-
tively rare in the 16th century. For those coins which bear no date it is sometimes
possible to determine the date of issue using the design, a mark or a signature,
with the aid of written sources (Plates 2, 8 and 44). Statements of value are tobe
found even more rarely than dates on the coins illustrated in the Plates. If the
value of a coin was stated, this was clone on the one hand using clear-cut

XXIX
denominational terms such as ducat, rouble, pistole (Plates 33, 38, 46, 51, 56, 66)
or on the other hand it was specified on the gold coins in (silver) coinage
of account (Plates 28, 36, 40, 55, 57, 61, 67). Multiple values could be indicated
by the corresponding numeral (Plates 2 and 45).
Many pieces bear marks of the most diverse kinds: single letters, monograms,
symbols and coats of arms. These originate from the persons involved in the
manufacture of the coins and are to be regarded as a form of guarantee of the
quality of the pieces. As a rule, the mintmaster signed the coin; only occasion-
ally was this undertaken by a higher-ranking person (Plates 7 and 10) or (as an
instance of control) the warden (Plates 45 and 54). A double signature is rare
(Plates 41, 5 9 and 67); in one case of this, we know that it was prescribed by law
(Plate 59). But sometimes it was only the die-engraver who placed his initials on
his work. On undated pieces which are not supplied with a reference to the place
of issue, the signatures can provide information about the place and date of
origin of the coin.
Traditional methods of identification by symbols (e. g. Plates 4, 15, 16, 23) or
secret marks remained at first the most widely used for supplying information
about the mints. In France a system which has remained valid until our own
times was introduced by Francis I in 1540: letters replaced the coded infor-
mation about the mints (Plates 9 and 13). Where cities acted as coinage author-
ities, the place-name was always stated in full (Plates 18, 20, 27, 29, 35, 38, 39).
Ottoman Empire issues were completely different from European ones.
Following Islamic tradition, they bore no pictorial designs at all, but were
supplied exclusively with texts in Arabic language and script, while the dates
were given according to the Islamic chronology. They were expressed in figures
read from left to right, in contrast to the script. On the coins of the Ottoman
rulers, unlike on Arabic coinages, there are no indications of denomination.
They are known to us only from contemporary sources. The sultan's name and
that of his father, the mint and initially only the year of accession are mentioned
in the legends, which are divided between the obverse and reverse. In addition,
there are the ruler's titles and prayers for benediction. From the second half of
the 18th century it became customary to indicate the appropriate regnal year
of the sultan as well, with the help of which it was possible to identify the date

XXX
of issue of the coin accurately. The so-called Tughra (the sultan's seal) found
a place in the design (Plates 70-72) with the introduction of the Zer-i Mahbüb
(Plate 71). On the Zer-i Istanbul of Ahmed III, it dominates the obver~e of
the coin on its own (Plate 70). The Tughra maintained its place there from
then on until the 20th century.
The Indian gold coins shown in this volume come from different areas within
the subcontinent. The northern issues, oriented towards Islam, name the issuing
ruler, the mint and the year of production of the coin, in Arabic script and
language (Plates 74 and 76). In addition, the Kalimah appears on the obverse
of our early Akbar mohur (Plate 74; cf. Vol. II, pp. XXVI-XXVII). Following
Islamic rules, these coins bear no pictorial representations. On Akbar's earlier
issues, the ruler's name was embedded in two lines of verse, which are written in
Persian and whose words (sometimes even parts of words) follow each other
arbitrarily. The multiplicity of such verses existing under Akbar and Jahangir
was later restricted to a single one, which is characteristic only of the ruler
in question. In Jahangir's case the aniconic Islamic tradition was interrupted
for a while, and script was replaced on the obverse by signs of the Zodiac.
These coins are tobe seen as circulating money in contrast to Jahangir's portrait
coins, which on account of their unusual design and the simultaneous issue of
normal coins are to be regarded purely as money of the Mughal court.
The southern Indian coin on Plate 78 is different: it was struck by the British
East lndia Company, copying local issues, and shows the figures of the Indian
religious pantheon. The Company was also later allowed to manufacture north
Indian coins which were accurate copies of the customary local issues.
The Japanese coins, which are of course fundamentally different from those
of other cultural areas because of their sheet-like form, likewise cannot be
compared in their design with other issues shown here (Plates 75, 77 and 79). lt is
remarkable that no issuing ruler, emperor or shögun, is named on any of these
coins. Only the nominal value, the era (in one case) and the name of the man
responsible for the coinage are found as official statements. This latterwas, from
the time of the shögun Tokugawa leyasu onwards, a member of the Gotö family.
We encounter this name in Kaö, a special seal-script, stamped on or applied in
Indian ink alongside the written-out form (Plate 77). The forename Mitsutsugo

XXXI
is even additionally stated on two coins (Plates 75 and 79). The face value of the
Öbankin and Kobankin was stated in Ryö, the basic weight unit of the currency.
The date ofissue of the olderJapanese coins can only be determined on the basis
of contemporary written sources. An aid to dating is given in some cases by
a mention of the era during which the coin concerned was made (Plate 79). The
pictorial design of the coins was restricted to repeated reproductions of the Kiri-
flower, an ancient symbol of authority, of unknown origin.

SOURCES OF GOLD

As far as the extraction of gold was concerned, circumstances at the end of the
15th / beginning of the 16th centuries had hardly changed from those of the
Middle Ages. The Portuguese-ruled west coast of Africa continued to lead the
field as the supplier of gold. This situation altered when Christopher Columbus
discovered America in 1492. From 1493 to 1600, the Spanish conquistadors
brought back a total of around 340,000 kg of gold. For the most part this was
made up of cult and decorative objects looted from the native populations, who
had accumulated them over the centuries. The returns from the gold panning
which was soon set up were by comparison somewhat limited. Vein-gold, the
real wealth of the conquered countries, was discovered two centuries later. Only
then was Columbus's prayer"maythe Almightyin his mercy help me to find the
mines from which this gold is gained" answered.
During the 17th and 18th centuries the Spanish and Portuguese possessions
in Central and South America produced the great bulk of the gold needed in
E urope. At the end of the 17th century such enormous deposits were discovered
in Brazil that the country temporarily became the most important gold-
producer in the world. Whereas Spain and Portugal controlled the virtually
inexhaustible supplies from their colonies, the other European states had to
seek other possibilities of acquiring gold.
England obtained some of the gold it needed for coinage from imports from
Guinea by the Africa Company. This source of metal is referred to in the name

XXXII
and a design detail of one of the pieces shown in the plates (Plate 42). In
addition, by signing a trade agreement with Portugal in 1703 the island kingdom
succeeded in acquiring the bulk of the gold which poured into Lisbon from
Brazil. The seizure of Spanish ships laden with precious metals from the New
World added a not insignificant amount. By comparison, the supplies of the
remaining European territories, where little orno gold was extracted, were limit-
ed. The only important mines were those at Salzburg (already mentioned in the
last quarter of the 13th century), and in Hungary and Transylvania (Plate 25),
as well as the deposits at Reichenstein in Silesia (Plate 27). The alluvial gold
panned from local rivers in Germany, mainly during the 18th century, was not
abundant, and played very little part in the coinage (Plate 68). Extraction of
gold started relatively late in Russia. Systematic exploitation of the deposits
in the Ural region north of Ekaterinburg was only begun in 1750.
By way of comparison, Japan looked back on a long tradition. While the
precious metal was at first obtained only in the form of panned gold, out-
put increased considerably during the 16th century with the discovery of
rich deposits of vein-gold. From 1540 Portugal procured large quantities of
the yellow metal from the mines on Sado, an island off the west coast of
Hondo, the main Japanese island.
lndia already had substantial gold reserves in ancient times, thanks almost
entirely to its trade with the western world. With Vasco da Gama's discovery of
the sea-route to India, a new influx of precious metal begun in 1498. Most of the
Portuguese gold originating in West Africa was now siphoned off into the
treasuries of Indian rulers.
The rulers of the Otto man Empire pursued a completely different course. Smce
their own gold deposits were unable to meet demand, they allowed Venetian
ducats to circulate alongside their own issues. The former were first tested for
their purity and countermarked with the word sa}:i}:i ("all right").
Other possibilities of getting hold of the desired metal, principally resorted to
by countries with few or no gold reserves of their own, lay in the reutilisation of
already manufactured gold. This included in particular the melting-down of old
and foreign eo ins (Plates 32, 50 and 64 ); but occasionally sacred and profane
precious metal objects also came to the mints as raw material.

XXXIII
THE MANUFACTURE OF COINAGE

Up to the middle of the 16th century there were no appreciable alterations in the
technique of coin-making compared with the practices in antiquity and the
Middle Ages. The only innovation which took place was in the preparation of
the strip-ingots from which the blanks were cut: the metal bars were pulled
through a draw-bench and thus given a uniform thickness.
Radical changes in the method of coining first took place around the middle
of the 16th century. At the Augsburg Imperial Diet of 1550/1551, inventors
offered their newly-developed rotary coining machines to the future
Emperor Ferdinand I. These were intended primarily for the manufacture of
large silver coins, but they also found employment for the gold coinage.
This is at least suggested by an account published in 1609, which describes
operations at the Austrian mint of Hall in detail. But whether the rotary-
press method achieved as wide a distribution for the coining of gold as was
the case for silver is impossible to tel1.
As early as 1551, the king of France appeared as one of the first interested parties
when he had one of the Augsburg goldsmith Marx Schwabe's machines
installed in Paris in that year. Schwabe claimed that 50 workers could be
dispensed with through his invention. However, by 1556, strong opposition
from the mint's employees and from other mints resulted in the restriction of
the machine's use to the production of medals, jettons and the like. By 1585,
France had reverted entirely to "hammer" production, and even a fresh attempt
to reintroduce mechanical coining in 1620 was unsuccessful. Things looked
much the same in England. Here too the definitive introduction of mechanical
coining was frustrated by massive opposition from the mint workers. Mestrel,
constructor of the machine, was implicated in counterfeiting in 1569 and again
in 1577, and probably executed the following year. England did not convert
exclusively to mechanical coining until 1662. Only in Austria did this process
take place without major difficulties. Rotary coining, encouraged by the
Emperor Ferdinand I and his successors, improved during two decades to such
an extent that from 1571 the mint at Hall was able to produce coins entirely by
machinery and abandon the "hammered" coinage, which was produced in

XXXIV
parallel. Hall became the model for many European mints. For example,
the Spanish king demonstrated his interest in the new machines by seeking
their installation at Segovia, in order that they could help with the coining
of the enormous amounts of precious metals flowing in from the American
possessions. His wish was complied with, andin 1585 the Austrian ruler sent
rotary coining machines made in Hall to Spain, together with the personnel
necessary for their operation.
From the end of the 17 th century the screw press, also known as balancier, found
a wider distribution than the rotary machine. Although it was invented as early
as 1550, opposition from mint workers to the machine's introduction was only
overcome a century later and persisted for a further 40 years, until the use of the
screw press was customary everywhere. Up to 30 coins a minute could be struck
b y it. At the same time, the use of a punch in the manufacture of blanks was
a major step forward. With its help it was possible to punch out uniform round
discs from the metal strip - ingots - a prerequisite for the introduction of edge-
marking. This was applied mechanically, in the form of lettering or ornament,
using a so-called knurling machine, before or after the coining process, or at the
same time, by use of a collar formed of several segments laid on the lower die.
Edge decoration ensured that henceforth no illicit manipulations such as
clipping or filing could be undertaken on the coins. Although treatment of the
edge of the coin had became universal by the end of the 17th century, a distinc-
tion was still made during the 18th century, especially in the case of ducats,
between those with unmarked and those with marked edges, and the use of the
latter in payments was frequently demanded.
The coins of the Ottoman Empire were made by the traditional "hammering"
method for much longer than in Europe. lt seems that aids such as the draw-
bench and the punch first arrived in the coinage towards the end of the
17th century. The final introduction of mechanical striking probablytook place
in the mid-19th century, when 'Abdu'l-mejid had the mint oflstanbul equipped
along European lines in the course of his reform of the currency.
We are considerably better informed about the manufacture of the large plate-
shaped Japanese gold coins (Plates 75 and 77). Until the suspension of their
production in 1860, they were prepared by hand using a protracted process:

XXXV
following the casting of a block of metal of the weight prescribed for the coin,
this was brought to approximately the desired flat shape by hammering out.
In the next operation several of the sheets thus prepared were laid on each other
and their edges hammered until all pieces were the same size. They were then
fumished with the official stamps before finally being given numerous notches
running horizontally on the obverse, which were applied using a chisel.
Finished examples of the Öban size had to be submitted to the member of the
Gotö family responsible for the coinage, who was obliged to apply his personal
signature and the denomination to the obverse of the coin using Indian ink.

COIN-BALANCES

The multitude of gold denominations circulating in Europe from the sixteenth

century (of which the Plates in this book should convey an impression) made
coin-balances an indispensable item of everyday monetary transactions.
As long as the principle of real worth was current, the weight and fineness of
a precious-metal coin were of decisive importance for its value. Since the edge
was only later protected by omamentation or script, it was possible to clip or file
this part of the coins with intent to defraud. That this was indeed widely
practised is shown by the previously-mentioned Austrian hoard from Werfen,
in Salzburg territory. This consisted entirely of cut-down gold and silver coins,
together with the gold and silver clippings which had come from them.
The hoard also contained clippings from other coins. In addition, coins
sometimes circulated for over a century, as likewise emerges from coin hoards,
valuation-tables and the weights used with coin-balances; i. e. even without
fraudulent manipulation, they could become abraded and wom out from long
use which made itself felt in their weight.
As shown by the illustration opposite, the ordinary, most commonly used coin-
balance consisted of an equal-armed balance with two scale pans, together with
a series of base-metal single weights corresponding to the gross weights of the
most important gold (more rarely silver) coins in circulation, for use in deter-

XXXVI
Coin-balance from Berg, made by Johann Peter Braselmann in 1779

mining fitness for further circulation. As weil as the full weights, many coin-
balances included "compensatory weights" in an additional recess which could
be closed by means of a flap or a sliding panel. These consisted of small, thin
metal plates on which the weights were marked. If, upon weighing, a coin
proved to be under-weight, the coin-balance was evened out by means of the
compensatory weights. The measured difference-from the nominal weight of
the coin was converted into money and had tobe paid additionally. Unfamiliar
coins, not allowed for in this scheme, could be classified on the basis of their
weight and their value determined. The scales and coin-weights were housed
in a compact container (box) and could thus be carried about conveniently at
all times. The coin-balances were used by money-changers, bankers and
merchants, as illustrated by sixteenth-century paintings. Size and style were

XXXVII
governed by their needs and wishes. Small balances (for example with five
weights) provide a picture of the coins most commonly found in transactions,
while large ones with up to sixty weights thereby give an idea of how many
types of coins were used in international trade at any one time.
Some of the great commercial towns developed into centres of the craft
of balance-making. Among these were Milan, Paris, Lyon, Antwerp, Amster-
dam, London, Nuremberg and Cologne. In this Rhenish trade metropolis
about 50 weight- and balance-makers have been counted for the period
1600-1800. From the middle of the eighteenth century the production of such
balances spread to the Duchy of Berg, which since 1614 had belonged to the
Electoral Rhenish Palatinate. A typical coin-balance from this area is illustrated
in the Appendix and described in detail. As a rule, German, French and Nether-
landish weights were square and frequently bore on their upper surface
a slightly simplified illustration of the corresponding coin, and later the names
of the coins, which were also recorded in handwriting over the recesses reserved
for the weights in the box used for storage and transport.
The balance- and weight-makers were organised in guilds and their products
underwent strict quality controls. lt was obligatory to identify the maker.
This was clone by a statement of name, place and date, and a master's sign on
the scale pan, the case or the underside of the weights. The precision-made
coin-balances were an expensive purchase, and hence were used for several
generations, as can be gathered from the replacement weights for examples
lost or no longer required. During the eighteenth century the precision of
the weights worked out at 0.05 g. This resulted in a tolerance of l.5 %for ducats,
for instance, and correspondingly less for the larger coins. Since it was possible
to manipulate not only the coins but also the weights, inspectors known
as "adjusters" ("Eichmeister") were appointed by the authorities, to make sure
that neither the owner of a coin-balance nor the craftsmen involved in its
manufacture tampered with the weights.
During the nineteenth century, improvement in coining technique, such as
the universal introduction of the edge-marking collar (which did away with
fraudulent clipping or filing of the coins) and the disappearance of the older
coin-types from circulation made the use of coin-balances unnecessary.

XXXVIII
POSTSCRIPT

Gold has fascinated men from time immemorial; they raised it to a mythic
significance and endowed it with legendary powers. Moreover, its chemical
properties made it an ideal raw material for coinage, the basis of all wealth. Even
in antiquity, alchemists sought to manufacture the ever-scarce yellow metal
by artificial means. During the period covered by this book, particularly in the
17th and 18th centuries, many princes maintained alchemists, in the hope of
relieving thereby the pecuniary difficulties caused by their expensive house-
holds; so did Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, who held Johann
Friedrich Böttger in custody in Dresden. The latter did not succeed in making
gold, but in 1707 / 1708 he discovered in his researches how to manufacture
white porcelain - a "white gold'~

XXXIX
 THE PLATES

The colour illustrations of Plates 1-79 reproduce the coins at varying scales, each enlarged
to between 1. 7 and 7 times its actual size, with the exception of No. 77, which, owing to its
!arge dimensions, has had to be shown at a reduced scale. The black-and-white photographs
beside the captions give the actual sizes of the coins, except for Nos. 75 and 77, which are
reduced in scale.
The coin design as a whole is described from the point of view of the observer, as is usual
nowaday s, ex cept that figures are dealt with in the opposite (heraldic) fashion: for instance,
the right hand of a standingfigure lies in the left half of the coin design.
All Arabic inscriptions are tobe readfrom right to left.
The date ofstriking is not recorded on all eo ins, and is given in the caption after the designation
of the coin. Dates in brackets indicate that the date of production has been iriferred from
information on the coin itse!f or from other sources.
INDEX OF COINS ILLUSTRATED

1 DUCHY OF MILAN Double ducat (1494-1500)

2 KINGDOM OF CASTILE 4 excelentes de Ja Granada (after 1497)
3 PRINCE-ARCHBISHOPRIC OF SALZBURG 3 ducats, 1513
4 DUCHY OF MILAN Scudo d'oro del sole (1515-1519)
5 DUCHY OF BRABANT Carolusgulden (1521-1545)
6 KINGDOM OF PORTUGAL Portugues (1521-1557)
7 KINGDOM OF NAPLES Double scudo (from 1525)
8 KINGDOM OF SPAIN Escudo (after 153 7)
9 KINGDOM OF FRANCE Ecu d'or a Ja croisette (1541-1545)
10 KINGDOM OF ENGLAND Crown (1546/ 1547)
11 LORDSHIP OF MIRANDOLA Scudo d'oro de! sole (1550-1568)
12 KINGDOM OF PORTUGAL Cruzado calvario (1555-1557)
13 KINGDOM OF FRANCE Double Henri d'or, 1558
14 THE TEUTONIC ORDER IN LIVONIA Goldgulden, 1559
15 KINGDOM OF ENGLAND Half-pound (1560/ 1561)
16 COUNTY OF FLANDERS H alf-real (1560-1567)
17 KINGDOM OF HUNGARY Ducat, 1563
18 CITY OF HAMBURG Portugalöser (1574-1577)
19 KINGDOM OF ENGLAND Sovereign (1585-158 7)
20 CITY OF RIGA Portugalöser, 1586
21 DUCHY OF PIACENZA 2 doppie, 1591
22 DUCHY OF SÖDERMANLAND 8 marks, 1598
23 DUCHY OF BRABANT Double Albertin, 1601
24 KINGDOM OF SCOTLAND Sword and sceptre piece, 1603
25 PRINCIPALITY OF TRANSYLVANIA 10 ducats, 1605
26 LORDSHIP OF TOURNAI Double souverain (1612-1621)
27 DUCHIES OF LIEGNITZ AND BRIEG 6 ducats, 1616
28 KINGDOM OF ENGLAND Laure! (1623 / 1624)
29 CITY OF MAGDEBURG Goldgulden, 1628
30 PRINCE-BISHOPRIC OF LIEGE Ecu d'or Ferdinandus, 1637
31 DUCHY OF SAVOY 4 scudi, 1639
32 KINGDOM OF FRANCE Louis d'or, 1640
33 DUCHY OF POMERANIA Ducat, 1642
34 KINGDOM OF DENMARK 11z ducat, 1644
35 IMPERIAL CITY OF ZWOLLE Ducat, 1650
36 COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND Unite, 1651
37 DUCHY OF BRABANT Souverain, 1655
38 IMPERIAL CITY OF FRANKFURT AM MAIN Ducat, 1657
39 CITY OF THORN 5 ducats, 1659
40 KINGDOM OF PORTUGAL Moeda de ouro, 1678
41 PAPAL STATE ~adrupla, 1678/ 1679
42 KINGDOM OF ENGLAND 5 guineas, 1692
43 DUCHY OF MECKLENBURG J/4 ducat, 1701
44 KINGDOM OF FRANCE Louis d'or aux 8 Let aux insignes (1701/1702)
45 SPAN ISH COLONIAL EMPIRE: PERU 8 escudos de oro, 1717
46 EMPIRE OF RUSSIA Double rouble, 1720
47 PORTUGUESE COLONIAL EMPIRE: BRAZIL Dobräo, 1726
48 ELECTORATE OF BAVARIA Carolin, 1730
49 KINGDOM OF PRUSSIA Friedrich d'or, 1746
50 CITY OF GENEVA Pistole, 1755
51 EMPIRE OF RUSSIA Imperial, 1756
52 UNITE D NETHERLANDS, PROVINCE OF UTRECHT Ducat, 1756
53 CITY OF ZURICH Ducat, 1756
54 SPANISH COLONIAL EMPIRE: COLOMBIA 8 escudos de oro, 1758
55 MALTA 10 scudi, 1762
56 PRINCE-BISHOPRIC OF HILDESHEIM 1/2 pistole, 1763
57 UNITE D NETHERLANDS, PROVINCE OF HOLLAND Rijder, 1763
58 EMPIRE OF RUSSIA Ducat, 1766
59 HABSBURG LANDS Ducat, 1766
60 KING DOM OF POLAND Ducat, 1770
61 ELECTORATE OF SAXONY Double August d'or, 1777
62 PORTUG UESE COLONIAL EMPIRE: BRAZIL 1/2 dobra, 1785
63 AUSTRIAN NETHERL.A NOS Double souverain d'o~, 1788
64 CITY OF SOLOTHURN J/4 duplone, 1789
65 UNITED BELGIAN PROVINCES Lion d'or, 1790
66 KINGDOM OF DENMARK Ducat, 1791
67 REPUBLIC OF FRANCE 24 livres, 1793
68 GRAND DUCHY OF BADEN Ducat, 1807
69 OTTOMAN EMPIRE Altm (1520-1566)
70 OTTOMAN EMPIRE Zer-i Istanbul (1703-1730)
71 OTTOMAN EMPIRE Zer-i Ma~büb 1799/1800
72 OTTOMAN EMPIRE Jedid Rumi, 1820/ 1821
73 SULTANATE OF ATJEH Mas (1530-153 9)
74 NORTH INDIA Mohur, 1575
75 EMPIRE OF JAPAN Kobankin, 1714
76 INDIA Mohur, 1715
77 EMPIRE OF JAPAN Öbankin, 1725
78 SOUTH INDIA Pagoda (c. 1740-1808)
79 EMPIRE OP JAPAN Nibukin, 1828
DUCHY OF MILAN

Duke Lodovico Maria Sforza, 1494-1500

Double ducat, n. d.
Mint: Milan
Obverse: Head LVDOVICVS J M '- SF' ANGLVS 'DVX 'MLI
(Ludovicus Maria Sfortia anglus dux Mediolani)
Bust, right
Reverse:+ PP, ANGLE, Q}, CO, AC, I - ANVE 'D , 7 - (?,
(Papiensis Angleriae Tricarici comes ac Ianuae dominus etc.)
The duke, brandishing a sword, galloping on horseback, right
Weight: 6.87 g · </; 25.3 mm
Literature: CNI 8

In succession to the Visconti, the Sforza dynasty took over control of the Duchy
of Milan in 1450 and ruled it, with interruptions, until 1535, when the family died
out with Francesco II. The family took its name from Muzo Attendolo, father of
the first Sforzato be duke of Milan, who had been named "the forceful" (Sforza).
Following the death of his nephew, for whom he had already illegally exercised
guardianship since 1481, Lodovico Maria Sforza succeeded to absolute power in
1494. His short reign ended in 1499 with flight from the troops of Louis XII of
France. In an attempt to regain his duchy, Lodovico was taken prisoner on 9 April
1500, and Milan now became subject to the French crown.
The portraits on Lodovico's coins are among the most accomplished of the
Renaissance. In the realistically depicted features, one may recognise a proud
man, conscious of his power; the portrait may have been based on sketches by
Ambrogio Preda, a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci. Francis I of France later had
himself depicted in a similar fashion on his Milanese coins. Double ducats were
the only gold denomination produced. Their theoretical weight was 7.02 g, with a
fineness of 24 carats, i. e. the coins were to be of pure gold. Analysis of our
example gave a gold content of 995 / 1000.
The double ducat was also known as the gold testone, from the portrait on the
obverse. The testone (a silver coin) was first struck by Galeazzo Maria Sforza in
1474, in imitation of the Venetian lira Tron, the first Italian coin with a ruler's
portrait. A reference to the mint of our double ducat is made by the head of the
patron saint of Milan, St. Ambrose, which can be seen at the beginning of the
obverse legend.

PLATE 1
KINGDOM OF CASTILE

Qieen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, 1474-1504

4 excelentes de la Granada, n. d. (after 1497)
Mint: Segovia
Obverse: + FERNANDVS : ET: HELISABET: REX : ET: REGINA: C
(Ferdinandus et Elisabeth rex et regina Castellae)
The busts of the two sovereigns turned towards each other;
above, an aqueduct as mintmark and the figure 4 for the value
Reverse: S SVB : VMBRA: ALARVM: TVARVM: PROT
(Sub umbra alarum tuarum protege nos)
Crowned shield with the arms of Castile/ Leon, Aragon/ Sicily and Granada,
in front of a nimbate eagle with outspread wings; in the right field, the letter A
Weight: 13.98 g · <j) 34.5 mm
Literature: Heiss 59

The marriage of lsabella I and Ferdinand II, contracted in 1469, laid the foun-
dations for the subsequent unity of Spain. However, Castile (inherited by lsabella
in 1474) and Aragon (king of which Ferdinand became in 1479) remained at first
administratively separate kingdoms. With the conquest of the last Moorish
foothold, Granada, in 1492, they ruled virtually the whole lberian peninsula.
Only the kingdom of Portugal, which lay to the west on the Atlantic coast, was
excepted.
The journeys of Christopher Columbus, whose voyages were partly financed by
lsabella, also took place during the reign of the two "Catholic sovereigns" - an
honorary title bestowed on them in 1496 by Pope Alexander VI.
The Spanish ward excelente (i. e. "fine'; "splendid") denoted gold coins of very
high fineness. A new excelente, furnished with the distinguishing appellation "de
la Granada'; was introduced in the second coinage reform of 1497, known as the
Pragmatic of Medina del Campo. With a fineness unaltered at 23 % carats and a
weight of 3.52 g (the previous excelente, the dobla castellana, weighed 4.60 g),
it was now adjusted to the Aragonese ducat. The use of this denomination in
Aragon resulted from its coastal position in the western Mediterranean and its
ltalian possessions. The excelente de la Granada, like the earlier coins, bare as well
as Isabella's portrait that of her husband, and mentioned both their names in its
legend. With this issue, the reverse shield united the arms of Castile and Aragon
on the gold coinage for the first time. In addition, a split pomegranate, referring to
the fall of Granada, was incorporated in the lower field. Beginning with the
double excelente, the shield was surmounted by an eagle, and surrounded by a
complementary legend taken from Psalm 17, verse 8: "hide us under the shadow
of thy wings':
The mint of Segovia had as its mark the Roman aqueduct in the city.

PLATE 2
PRINCE-ARCHBISHOPRIC OF SALZBURG

Prince-archbishop Leonhard of Keutschach, 1495-1519

3 ducats, 1513
Mint: Salzburg
Mintmaster: Hans Thenn
*
Obverse: LEONARD9 DE KEWTSCH' ARE' SA.I.;
(Leonardus de Keutschach archiepiscopus Salisburgensis)
Beneath a mitre, a shield quartered with the archiepiscopal and family arms;
beside it, the date, divided 15 - 13
Reverse: nORA PRO ME SA - NCTE RVDBERTE
Bust in monastic garb, right
Weight: 10.61 g · (/) 28.3 mm
Literature: Bernhart and Roll 9

The Augustine canon Leonhard of Keutschach was elected Archbishop of

Salzburg in 1495 and consecrated the followingyear, on 17 April 1496. Leonhard,
who had already in 1490 obtained for himself the encumbered provostship of the
cathedral by payment of 3,000 Gulden, was able during his period of office to
redeem pawned goods belonging to the archbishopric and considerably to
enlarge the territory of the archbishopric of Salzburg through the acquisition
of new districts.
From 1500, Leonhard had two types of gold coin issued, one being the Gold-
gulden of Rhenish standard (see Vol. II, Plate 63), the other the ducat following
the Hungarian standard. The latter was also issued as multiples up to sixfold
weight, in both round and square shapes. Leonhard's coins reflected the tran-
sition from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. In the letter-forms of the
legend, the new Roman script is also used on the ducats of 1513 alongside the
hitherto usual Gothic letters. A change is likewise noticeable in the design and
composition of this issue: the standing figure of St. Rudbert on the reverse of the
coin is replaced by a portrait-bust of the archbishop. This shows similarities to the
portrait-coins Struck in Italy from the middle of the fifteenth century (cf. Plate 1);
however, whether the piece illustrated here goes back to these cannot be said
for certain.
Around 1513, the year this coin was produced, the Salzburg mint was transferred
to the present-day Badergässchen, where Hans Thenn had bought a house on
Leonhard's instructions. He and his descendants worked there as mintmasters
for the archbishops until 1572.

PLATE 3
DUCHY OF MILAN

Francis I, King of France, 1515-1522

Scudo d'oro del sole, n. d. (1515-1519)
Mint: Milan
Obverse: Head g FRANCISCVS g o g G g FRANCOR g REX g OVX g M g
(Franciscus dei gratia Francorum rex dux Mediolani)
Beneath a crown, a large shield with three fleurs-de-lys; above it, a sun
Reverse: Serpent g XPS g VINCIT g XPS g REGNAT g XPS g IMPERAT 0

(Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat)

A cross, the arms of which end in lilies
Weight: 3.43 g · </J 26.1 mm
Literature: Lafaurie 634 - CNI 4

The struggle over the claims of the House of Anjou to Naples, which had been
smouldering since 1494, led the young king Francis I to Italy in the veryyear ofhis
accession to the throne. In the battle of Marignano (present-day Melegnano) in
Upper Italy, he defeated the Swiss in Milanese service and then occupied Milan.
Like his predecessor Louis XII, Francis I was however unable to maintain his
position there. In 1521, the allied troops of the Habsburg Emperor Charles V and
Pope Leo X expelled the French again, and in the following year Francesco II
Sforza returned to the duchy his family had ruled since 1450.
Among the coins struck for Francis I in Milan, there are two very dissimilar types
of gold issue. The one is the double ducat, never issued in France even as the single
denomination, which in its standard, design and style follows local prototypes,
i. e. the preceding issues of the Sforza. The obverse bears a bare-headed portrait of
the King with mid-length hair, and the reverse a crowned shield quartered with
the arms of France and Milan.
The scudo d'oro de! sole shown here is the well-known ecu d'or of the French
coinage system. The small sun over the crown, added under Louis XI in 1475,
was joined to the name in explanation, and denoted the issue. This apparently
typical French coin contains several indications of its Italian minting-place. The
inscriptions each begin with a Milanese symbol: the head of the city's patron saint
Ambrose, and a serpent devouring a child - the coat of arms of the Lombardian
noble family Visconti. The obverse legend ends with the title "Duke of Milan';
which is not found on the contemporary issues from French mints.
The cross on the reverse, linked with the words Christ conquers, Christ reigns,
Christ governs, formed the characteristic design of the ecu d'or from the time of
Louis IX, and was retained on the gold coinage until the French Revolution.

PLATE --l
DUCHY OF BRABANT

Emperor Charles V, 1506-1555, from 1519 Holy Roman Emperor,

from 1516 as Charles I also King of Spain
Carolusgulden, n.d. (1521-1545)
Mint: Antwerp
Obverse: KAROLVS x D' x G' x ROM' x IMP' x Z x HISPA' x REX hand
(Karolus dei gratia Romanorum imperator et Hispaniarum rex)
Crowned hip-length figure of the emperor, half-right, holding in his right
hand a sword, in his left the imperial orb
Reverse: Crown DA x MI CHI x VIRTVT' x CONTRA x HOS' x TVOS
(Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos)
On a double-headed eagle, a shield with the arms of Castile and Leon
upper left and lower right, and of Austria, Valois, Burgundy and Brabant
in the other two quarters
Weight: 2.90 g · <J> 23.7 mm
Literature: de Witte 662 - van Gelder and Hoc 185-1 a

While still a child, Charles V, who was born in 1500 in the Flanders city of Ghent,
inherited Burgundy and Netherlandish territories, following the early death of
his father, Philip the Fair. During his reign he added to these Friesland, Utrecht
and Overijssel, Groningen and Guelders. In 1543 these possessions comprised
17 provinces, stretching from the county of Artois in the west to the Ems in
the north-east. After the second division of the Holy Roman Empire into
administrative "circles" in 1512, these provinces formed a substantial part of the
Burgundian Imperial Circle.
With the second issue, introduced in 1521, Charles V abandoned the coinage
system he had taken over from his father and introduced new denominations
and types for both the gold and the silver coinages. The Carolusgulden, bearing
a portrait of the emperor, took the place of the florin Philip (Vol. II, Plate 62),
which depicted that saint, and was the most debased coin of this issue,
with a lighter weight and a fineness reduced to 583 / 1000. The Carolusgulden had
a value of 20 stuivers (sols), three Carolusgulden equalling the real (also new and
with the same design) and l1/z Carolusgulden its half. In 1540 these gold coins were
supplemented by the crown of the sun (i. e. the ecu d'or au soleil) based on the
French prototype.
The emperor's personal motto (Give me strength against thine enemies) was
chosen as the reverse legend for all coins of the second issue. In which of the
17 provinces the coin was issued is no longer apparent from the legend, and so can
now only be recognised from the mint-mark, the hand before the emperor's
name. From surviving figures, Antwerp produced 1,739,228 pieces between 1521
and 1552.
Almost twenty years after the golden Carolusgulden, a silver equivalent was
produced, also valued at 20 stuivers. This issue was comparable with the German
Taler.

PLATE 5
KINGDOM OF PORTUGAL

King John III, 1521-1557

Portugues, n. d.
Mint: Lisbon
Obverse: *IOANES: 3: R: PORTVGALIE: AL: O ·
G : C : N : C : ETI / ARAB - PSIE
(Ioanes 3 rex Portugaliae Algarbiae dominus Guineae conquisitionis navigationis
commercii Ethiopiae / Arabiae Persiae Indiae)
Crowned coat of arms, with the letters L - R at the sides
Reverse: :;;:IN~ HOC ·lli: SIGNO :~ VINCEES
Cross of the Order of Christ in a quatrefoil
Weight: 34.85 g · (/; 38.1 mm
Literature: Ferrara Vaz J 3.06 var.

When John III succeeded his father Manuel I on the throne, Portugal was the
leading maritime and colonial power of western Europe. She dominated trade in
the Indian Ocean and had settlements on both the west and east African coasts.
In 1500 Brazil was taken into possession by Pedro Alvarez Cabral as Portugal's
first American territory, and under John III it was colonised from 1532.
Portugal's wealth at this time was also reflected in her coinage, as shown by the
portugues, introduced in 1499 under Manuel I. This !arge, imposing coin was
struck from gold imported from west Africa. lt had a fineness of 23 % carats and
a nominal weight of around 35 g. One portugues was worth ten cruzados, which
were also struck in gold of the same fineness.
The obverse bears the Portuguese arms: five shields in the form of a cross (known
as the Qyinas), surrounded by seven castles. In the legend, which is partly
arranged in two lines, the titles and possessions of the king are combined with
references to long-distance trade, which includes Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and
India. The equal-armed cross on the reverse is the sign of the Portuguese Order of
Christ, the Grandmaster of which was the king.
The striking of this !arge gold coin, which took place in the mints of Lisbon and
Porto, was discontinued in 1538.
The portugues was the prototype for the Portugalöser of 10, 5 and 2 V2 ducats,
struck mainly in northern Germany from about 1560 (Plates 18 and 20).

PLATE 6
KINGDOM OF NAPLES

Emperor Charles V, 1516-1556, from 1519 Holy Roman Emperor

Double scudo, n. d. (from 1525)
Mint: Naples
Mint Director: Giovanni Baptista Ravaschieri
Die-engraver: Giannantonio Ennece
Obverse: CAROLVS· V· ROM· IMP
(Carolus V Romanorum imperator)
Armoured bust with radiate crown, right; above the right shoulder,
the latinised monogram IBR of the mint director
Reverse: MAGNA OPERA DOMI
(Magna opera domini)
Pax with cornucopia, standing left; with a torch she is setting fire to a book
and piled-up weapons
Weight: 6.69 g · </) 25.8 mm
Literature: CNI 26

In 1515 Charles V assumed power in the Netherlands in place ofhis mad mother.
One year later, following the death of Ferdinand, he became King of Spain and
simultaneously ruler of Naples and Siciiy. He had both provinces administered
by viceroys. During his reign, Charles laid the foundations of the Spanish
Empire: on his instructions, the first circumnavigation of the globe was achieved
by Magellan in 1518, Mexico was conquered by Cortes two years later and Peru
by Pizarro in 1531, through which the Spanish crown came into the possession
of immense reserves of precious metals.
Charles V had only a few gold denominations struck. The ducats initially issued
were later replaced by the scudo d'oro, which subsequently became the principal
Neapolitan gold coin; alongside it, smaller amounts of its double and quadruple
were produced. Two designs are known for the double scudo; they are modelled
on the example of ancient Roman coins and bear a powerfully expressive portrait
of the ruler. Mythological designs of Pax and Athena were chosen for the reverses.
The signature of the mint director Giovanni Baptista Ravaschieri enables us
to date our coin more precisely. He was in charge of the Naples mint under
Charles V from 1525 and occupied the post until the time of Philip II of Spain.

PLATE 7
KINGDOM OF SPAIN

Qieen Joanna and King Charles I, 1516-1555,

from 1519 Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V
Escudo, n. d. (after 1537)
Mint: Seville
Obverse: IOANA ET ° KARO [LVS]
O

Crowned shield with the arms of Castile/ Leon, Jerusalem/ Navarre, Aragon/
Sicily and Granada; beside the shield a quadrilateral mark and the letter S
Reverse: HISPANIARVM O REG [ES O SICILIAE]
Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre in a quatrefoil whose angles
are decorated
Weight: 3.13 g · <j) 21.3 mm
Literature: Heiss 2 var.

After the death ofFerdinand of Castile and Aragon in 1516, his grandson Charles
inherited both crowns. Charles, who was also a grandson of the Emperor
Maximilian 1, thus founded the rule in Spain of the Habsburg family, which
lasted for around 200 years. Charles's mother Joanna was passed over by this
succession; she was declared unfit to rule on account of her deep depressions
following the early death of her husband Philip the Fair of Burgundy in 1506.
Nicknamed "the Mad", she lived in the castle of the old Castilian city ofTordesil-
las on the Duero until 1555. One year later Charles abdicated and retired to the
monastery of San Yuste. The Spanish territories passed to his son Philip II.
The outflow of high-purity excelentes into neighbouring countries caused
Charles to create a coin comparable to the ecu d'or au soleil and the ltalian scudo
d'oro derived from it. Therefore, he introduced the escudo (i. e. "shield") in 1537.
The new denomination also bore the name "corona", after the crown over the
coat of arms. However, its standard was altered vis-a-vis its French prototype:
the fineness was reduced to 22 carats (= 916.6/1000) and the nominal weight was
somewhat lower, at 3.38 g (cf. Plates 4 and 9).
The designs of the obverse and reverse followed the French types. The shield
united the arms of the territories which were subject to the Spanish crown, to
whose number the kingdom of Naples had belonged since 1503. From its claim
to the title "King of Jerusalem~ this bore in its arms a cross, which on the
escudo occupies the reverse.
The mint of Seville is identified as the source of our coin by the letter S, repre-
senting one of the two wardens (who according to the regulations had to place
their marks on the coinage), and the mark beside the shield. Its symbol, a castle
above the shield, cannot be made out on our uncentred piece.
Under Charles's son Philip II the double escudo became in 1566 the doblon,
with the same design. This became known abroad as the pistole and later served
as the prototype for the coinages of many issuing authorities (Plate 56).

PLATE 8
KINGDOM OF FRANCE

King Francis I, 1515-1547

Ecu d'or a la croisette, n.d. (1541-1545)
Mint: Poitiers
Mintmaster: Jean de la Rache
Obverse: '#, FRANCISCVS : DEI: GRA: FRANCORV: REX· R
(Franciscus dei gratia Francorum rex)
A large crowned shield with three fleurs-de-lys; below, the mint-letter G
Reverse: + XPS : VINCIT: XPS : REGNAT: XPS : IMPER · R ·
(Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat)
Within a twelve-arched tressure, a small equal-armed cross with a central pellet
Weight: 3.39 g · </) 24.7 mm
Literature: Lafaurie 749

Francis I, who was descended from the collateral Orleans-Angouleme line of the
House of Valois, succeeded his father-in-law Louis XII as king at the age of 21. In
terms of foreign policy, his reign was determined by four wars extending over two
decades against the Spanish-Habsburg hegemony of Charles V, by whom he had
already been defeated in the Imperial Election of 1519 at Frankfurt am Main.
Under Francis I the Renaissance in France reached its zenith. The flamboyant
king laid the foundations of the famous chateaux of the Louvre, Fontainebleau
and Chambord on the Loire. He summoned numerous scholars and artists to his
court, including some from Italy: among their number was Leonardo da Vinci,
who died in 1519 in the chateau at Amboise.
The principal 16th century French gold coin is the ecu d'or (i. e. golden shield),
whose name comes from the shield which fills the obverse. Different issues were
designated more closely by additional labels based on the design. The type shown
here, with a small equal-armed cross (croisette) on the reverse, was introduced on
19 March 1541 and was also issued as a half-ecu. The standard laid down in 1519,
which prescribed a fineness of 23 carats (958.3/1000) and a weight of 3.439 g,
remained unaltered. Accordingly, 71 Y6 pieces were to be struck from the Paris or
Troyes mark of 244.752 g. The value of the ecu was nevertheless increased from 40
to 45 sols tournois.
From 1389 it was usual to distinguish the various mints by pellets in the inscrip-
tions. In 1540 Francis I introduced a system (in force to the present) whereby the
28 mints working in the country were denoted by letters. Our coin bears, under
the shield on the obverse, the letter G for the mint of Poitiers as weil as a pellet
under the eighth letter of the obverse and reverse legends, which follows the old
system.

PLATE 9
KINGDOM OF ENGLAND

King Henry VIII, 1509-1547

Crown, n. d. (1546/154 7)
Mint: Bristol
Under-treasurer: William Sharington
Obverse: t xn.EDRIC9., 8 : ROSR : @ ~SIDE @SPIDE :-7> :
(Henricus 8 rosa sine spine)
Beneath a large crown, a double rose between the crowned letters li - R
Reverse: t :W: D~ G~ RDGLIE , @ , FRR~ Z' HIW REX
(WS dei gratia Angliae Franciae et Hiberniae rex)
Beneath a large crown, a shield quartered with the arms of England and France
Weight: 2.94 g · ~ 24.2 mm
Literature: North 1836 - Seaby 2310

Henry VIII, portrayed so strikingly as a self-confident Renaissance prince by

Hans Holbein the Younger, who lived at the English court, broke away from
Rome andin 1534 made himself supreme head of the English church. His excuse
was the Pope's objection to his divorcing his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, who
had not borne him his hoped-for son and heir to the throne. The king married
a further five times; he was prone to violent acts, and had two of his wives
(Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard) put to death.
The crown denomination was created in 1526 by Cardinal Wolsey, Henry VIII's
chancellor and personal adviser, in the course of and as part of an important and
necessary coinage reform. lt formed a counterpart of equal value to the French
ecu d'or, which was entering England in huge numbers, and took its name from
"a
the latter's more precisely-defined issue la couronne". The fineness of 22 carats
chosen for this coin lay below that of the other English gold denominations.
From its connection with the new type it became a standard term, "crown gold".
From 1544, the poor financial situation caused Henry VIII to reduce the standard
of the gold coinage repeatedly; the crown reached a fineness of only 20 carats and
a weight-standard of 3.llg. In spite of the erection of supplementary mints, the
amount of debased coinage struck during these years was so great that the quality
of their outward appearance fell to a low level, as is well illustrated by our
example, which was produced in this period. lt was struck at the Bristol mint, as is
evident from the initials WS of the under-treasurer William Sharington.
The obverse bears the double rose of the House of Tudor, to which Henry VIII
belonged. The legend likens the king to a rose without thorns, a formula which
was even amplified on other coins by the word rutilans, i. e. dazzling, radiantly
handsome. The reverse legend consists of his titles, amongst them that ofKing of
Ireland, adopted in 1542.

PLATE 10
LORDSHIP OF MIRANDOLA

Lord Lodovico II Pico, 1550-1568

Scudo d'oro del sole, n. d.
Mint uncertain
*
Obverse: LVD · PICVS ·II· MIR· CON · Q· DNS
(Ludovicus Picus II Mirandolae Concordiaeque dominus)
Decorated shield quartered with the arms of Mirandola (1st and 4th quarters)
and of Mirandola-Concordia (2nd and 3rd quarters), charged with the Pico
family arms; above, a six-rayed sun
Reverse: *IN· TE· DOMINE · CONFIDO
Decorated cross with lilies in the four angles
Weight: 3.30 g · ~ 25.l mm
Literature: CNI 6

Mirandola, which lies 32 km north-east of Modena, was the centre of the small
Upper Italian territory of the same name, and belonged to the Pico family from
the fourteenth century. Besides Mirandola, they owned Concordia, 7 km north-
west of their family seat, which is referred to in the obverse legend. The lord of
Mirandola was raised to ducal status by the Emperor Mathias I in 1617. The rule
of the Pico ended barely a century later: finding Francesco Maria Pico guilty of
treachery during the War of the Spanish Succession, the Emperor Charles VI
declared him to have forfeited his dukedom, confiscated the family's private
possessions and on 15 July 1710 sold the territory to the Duke of Modena
for 175,000 doppie.
Mirandola was granted the mint right in 1515, by Maximilian I, and this privilege
was confirmed by Charles V in 1521. The extensive coinage of the rulers of
Mirandola bears no relationship to the small size and political insignificance of
their possessions. Thus the zecchino, the doppia and the scudo, and sometimes
also their halves and multiples, were issued in gold. Among the last, one coin is
especially worthy of note, which with a nominal value of 24 scudi and a weight of
about 79 g can surely not be described as currency in the true sense, but has
a purely representative character.
Lodovico II restricted his gold coinage to the scudo shown here and its half. The
ecu d'or au soleil, introduced by Louis XI of France in 14 7 5 and thus named
because of the small sun over the coat of arms, served as its prototype. The reverse
design, with four lilies in the angles of a fragmented ornamental cross, goes back
to the earliest ecu d'or of the thirteenth century. However, the original legend
(Plate 9) was replaced by the beginning of Psalm 31, verse 2: "In Thee, 0 Lord,
do I put my trust':

PLATE 11
KINGDOM OF PORTUGAL

King John III, 1521-1557

Cruzado calvario, n.d. (1555-1557)
Mint: Lisbon
Obverse: ~ IOA:III: POR: ET: AL: RE
(Ioannes III Portugaliae et Algarbiae rex)
Crowned coat of arms
Reverse: : IN: HOC: SIG - NO: VINCES
Cross calvary
Weight: 3.56 g · (/> 23.8 mm
Literature: Ferraro Vaz -, cf. J 3.19 ff.

Under John III, the Portuguese homeland encountered increasing economic

difficulties, exacerbated among other things by the great earthquake of 1531,
which destroyed Lisbon and several cities. Moreover, problems arose through the
Protestant movement, which the King sought to check by the introduction of the
Inquisition. This earned him the nickname "the Pious" and the honorary title
Zelator fidei (Zealot of the faith), which was granted to him by Pope Paul III.
The export ofhigh-grade Portuguese coins compelledJohn III first to suspend the
striking of the largest coin, the Portugues introduced by his father (Plate 6), and
then to reduce the fineness of the 23 %-carat cruzado. This took place through
decrees to this effect in 1538 and 1555. However, the reduction of fineness to
22 51s carats, as initially decided upon, was not sufficient. The fineness was there-
fore eventually reduced again to 22 1/s carats (= 921. 9 / 1000).
With the second coinage reform, the type shown here appeared as the new issue
of the cruzado, which was also known as the "calvario" from the cross on the
reverse. The value of this cruzado was 400 reis.
The thematically related Säo-vicente, a heavier gold coin with the effigy of
St. Vincent (patron saint of Lisbon), was put into circulation a year later; as with
the cruzado calvario its design and legend refer to the Catholic faith which
John III protected. The legend chosen for it was "Zealot of the faith unto death''.

PLATE 12
KINGDOM OF FRANCE

King Henry II, 1547-1559

Double Henri d'or, 1558
Mint: Rouen
Mintmaster: Nicolas Delisle
Obverse: HENRICVS ·II· D · G · FRAN · REX
(Henricus II dei gratia Francorum rex)
Bust of the king in armour, right
Reverse:*DVM·TOTVM·COMPLEAT·ORBEM ciborium 1558
Cross consisting of four crowned Hs; fleurs-de-lys and crescent moons in the
angles; in the centre the mint-letter B
Weight: 7.24 g · </J 28.5 mm
Literature: Lafaurie 809

The foreign policy of Henry II was determined, as was that of his father Francis I,
by the wars against the Emperor Charles V, i. e. the Habsburg an d Spanish
territories. With the help of the German Protestants he overran the three
Lorraine bishoprics of Metz, Toul and Verdun in 1552, and in 1558 he regained
Calais, the last English possession on the Continent, for the crown. By the Treaty
of Cateau-Cambresis he was forced to fin ally renounce his claims in Italy in
favour of Spain. Henry II died prematurely in 1559 as the result of a tournament
injury. Following the early death of his sickly son Francis II (who was married to
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots), his consort Catherine de Medici took over the
regency for the under-age Charles IX.
While the portrait of the ruler had been usual on silver testons for decades, the
profile portrait appeared for the first time on the gold coinage under Henry II.
The new type, called the Henri d'or, differs from its predecessor, the ecu d'or, in
standard, design and legends. The fineness remained at 23 carats, and the
standard weight was increased to 3.65g, i.e. 67 coins were tobe struck from the
Paris mark. As well as the single piece, double (as our coin) and half Henris d'or
were issued. The value of the Henri d'or was set at 50 sols tournois.
The reverse legend contains the king's motto and, as a pictorial supplement to
this, the crescent moon in the angles of the cross. This personal mark of the king's
is also interpreted as an emblem of his mistress, Diana of Poitiers.
The double Henri d'or represented here comes from the mint of Rouen, identi-
fied by the letter Band the pellets beneath the fifteenth letter of the legends. The
mintmaster employed there from 1551 was Nicolas Delisle, who may be identified
on the coins by his symbol, a cup or ciborium.
Charles IX, the younger son of Henry II, reverted in 1561 to the ecu d'or of the
old style.

PLATE 13
THE TEUTONIC ORDER IN LIVONIA

Master of the Order William of Fürstenberg, 1557-1559

Broad heavy Goldgulden, 1559
Mint: Wenden?
Obverse: WILHELM @ FVRSTE - NBERG D G o M o LI - o
O O

(Wilhelm Furstenberg dei gratia magister Livoniae)

The Master in armour, standing facing, with his sword shouldered.
In front of him a richly decorated shield, quartered with the arms of the Order
and of his family. In the field right and left <fl3 between pellets
Reverse: :<fl3: CHRISTVS <fl3 SAL - VS © NOSTRA <fl3 5 · 9 · - ·
Mary as queen of heaven with the infant Jesus, holding a sceptre and
standing in a circle of rays on a crescent moon
Weight: 4.04 g · (/; 29.4 mm
Literature: N.N., Goldgulden Wilhelms von Fürstenberg, Deutschordensmeister
in Livland, in: Berliner Münzblätter N.F.13 / 14 (1903) 220-222

In 1557 William of Fürstenberg became Master of an already declining Teutonic

Order in Livonia. An alliance against Russia formed, contrary to agreement,
between the Order and Poland led Russia under Ivan IV to begin the conquest of
Livonia in 1558. In the very same year Nawa and Dorpat feil to the Tsardom. In
this distress William was forced to resign the office ofMaster of the Order in 1559.
He was captured by the Russians at Vellin castle in 1560 and taken to the Moscow
region. William's successor and the last Master of the Order, Gotthard Kettler,
at first placed Livonia under Poland's protection and finally ceded it in 1561.
The remaining parts of the Order's lands were occupied by Sweden and
Denmark.
The origins of the Teutonic Ordergo back to the twelfth century. In 1189, citizens
of Bremen and Lübeck founded a hospital before the city of Acre (present-day
Akko in Israel), which was being besieged by the Crusaders. After the city's
capture, the hospital was shifted into the city and carried on by a religious
brotherhood, whose transformation into a knightly order followed in 1198.
Profiting from the favour of pope, emperor and other secular princes, the Order
was able to expand its territory greatly in the course of time. Under the last High
and German Master, Archduke Eugen of Austria, the Teutonic Order was
transformed in 1925 into a nursing order.
Extremely little is known about the coinage of Master of the Order William
of Fürstenberg. Gold coins exist from the years 1558 and 1559. As with the coin
illustrated, they are without exception broad heavy Goldgulden. William had
coins struck at his mints of Riga, Reval and Wenden. Wenden, the seat of the
Order's Master, may be accepted as the source of the gold eo ins on which the mint
name is not given. The coinage consisted of Goldgulden val ued at five Riga marks
and double Gulden of ten marks, which are known only from literary sources.

PLATE 14
KINGDOM OF ENGLAND

Qieen Elizabeth I, 1558-1603

Half-pound, n.d. (1560/ 1561)
Mint: London
Obverse: ELIZABETH · D · G · AN G · FRA ·ET· HIB · REGIN A star
(Elizabeth dei gratia Angliae Franciae et Hiberniae regina)
Crowned bust of the Qieen, left, with ruff and richly decorated dress
Reverse: • Star SCVTVM · FIDEI · PROTEGET · EAM ·
Crowned quartered royal shield, with the letters E - R at the sides
Weight: 5.54 g · </J 30.6 mm
Literature: North 2019

Following the short reigns of her half-brother Edward VI and her half-sister
the Catholic Mary I, Elizabeth I ascended the English throne at the end of 1558.
She was the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. The
divorce from his first wife, refused by the Pope, had led to the separation from
Rome and the founding of the Anglican church, which finally took shape and was
established under Elizabeth.
During her 45-year reign, Elizabeth issued a rich series of gold coins, which -
including the fractional pieces - consisted of nine denominations, but only four
designs. In addition, there were eleven different silver coins. The gold issues
divide into two groups according to their fineness: those produced in
"crown gold" of 22 carats (= 916.6 / 1000) and those in fine gold of 23.9 carats
(= 994.8/1000). They circulated simultaneously. The half-pound of 10 shillings
illustrated here was struck in crown gold, which was originally introduced in 1526.
All gold coins of this fineness (pound, half-pound, crown and half-crown) bear
a profile portrait of the Queen and the crowned English arms. The letters ER
stand for Elizabeth regina. The reverse legend reads in translation: the shield
of faith shall protect her.
The undated coins of Elizabeth can be dated by reference to fixed marks, whose
dates of use are known. The issues with the star at the end of the obverse legend
and the straight Z in the queen's name belang to the years 1560-61. At this time
the Parisian Eloye Mestrell introduced mechanical coining into the London
mint, which was used alongside the conventional technique (hammered coinage)
until 1571, when it had to be abandoned because of opposition from the
mint workers. The difference between machine-made and hand-struck coins is
apparent from a comparison of the half-pound shown here and the sovereign
in Plate 19.
The pound was worth 20 shillings. Thirty-three coins were struck to the Troy
pound of 373.248 g, giving a standard weight of 11.31 g.

PLATE 15
COUNTY OF FLANDERS

King Philip II of Spain, 1555-1598

Half-real, n. d. (1560-1567)
Mint: Bruges
Obverse: DOMINVS · MIHI · ADIVTOR
Bust of the King, right; below, the mintmark (a lily) between colons
Reverse: • PHS · D : G · HISP ·REX· COMES· FL ·
(Philippus dei gratia Hispaniarum rex comes Flandriae)
Beneath a large crown, a shield with the arms of Castile/ Leon;
Aragon/ Sicily; and Austria/Valois/ Burgundy/Brabant charged with
Flanders/ Tyrol
Weight: 3.47 g · </J 25.0 mm
Literature: van Gelderand Hoc 207 - 7 b

Philip II was unable to maintain the 17 Netherlandish provinces he inherited

from his father as an entirely united territory. Residing finally and for good in
Spain from 1559, he handed over their administration first to his half-sister
Margaret of Parma, who was later succeeded by the Spanish general the Duke of
Alva.
lncreasing centralism and religious antagonism towards the firmly Calvinist
north precipitated the Revolt of the N etherlands in 1566 and led to the secession
from Spain of the seven northern provinces in 1581.
Philip II took over the gold real and its half, introduced by his father in 1521, and
struck both with unaltered weight and fineness until 1598. While the full real had
a standard weight of 5.32 g and a fineness of 992 / 1000, the half-real was distinctly
heavier than half this, weighing 3.50 g. This was balanced by a lower fineness of
750/ 1000, so that in 1559, for instance, two half-reals of 35 stuivers were still
intrinsically the equal of a real of 70 stuivers.
According to figures surviving for the Bruges mint, the output of the fractional
piece (584,410 examples) was considerably larger than that of the real, of which
350,095 were struck.
The designs of the obverse and reverse are no langer comparable with the original
type, whose designs corresponded exactly to those of the Carolusgulden illustrat-
ed in Plate 5. The half-figure of the ruler has given way to a striking portrait with
the regent's individual features, and the double-headed eagle is lacking behind
the coat of arms.
Philip II's personal motto (God is my helper) forms the obverse legend. The
fractional piece is distinguished from the full real by details: the real shows the
king crowned, not bare-headed, and the coat of arms is surrounded by the collar
of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

PLATE 16
KINGDOM OF HUNGARY

King Ferdinand I, 1527-1564, from 1556 Holy Roman Emperor

Ducat, 1563
Mint: Kormöcz-Banya (Kremnitz)
Die-engraver: Abraham Eyzkher
Obverse: FER·D·G·EL·RO·IM- shield- ·S·AV·GE·HV ·BO·R
(Ferdinandus dei gratia electus Romanorum imperator semper augustus
Germaniae Hungariae Bohemiae rex)
The crowned Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus, enthroned on a crescent moon
*
Reverse: S LADISLAVS * - *REX* 1563 *
St. Ladislaus, in armour and crowned, standing facing with halberd and
imperial orb; right and left, the mint-letters K - B
Weight: 3.54 g · </; 22.7 mm
Literature: Markl 1288 var. - Pernt collection 211

In the years 1521 and 1522, the Emperor Charles V transferred the Aus tri an and
German possessions of the Habsburg hause to bis brother Ferdinand. Ferdinand
was married to the sister of the subsequent Hungarian king and on the latter's
death he enforced his own election as King of Hungary and Bohemia in 1526. The
coronation took place a year later. On Charles V's abdication in 1556, Ferdinand
became his successor and after his brother's death in 1558 had himself crowned
emperor in Frankfurt.
From 1527 Ferdinand authorised the ducat as the sole gold coin tobe issued in all
his states. The prototype for this denomination was the gold florin (fiorino d'oro),
created in Florence in 1252. The name ducat goes back to the zecchini which
originated in Venice in 1284 (likewise derived from the Florentine issue), and
specifically to the last ward of the legend "Sit tibi Christe datus quem tu regis iste
ducatus''. Ferdinand declared the ducat tobe the principal gold coin of the Holy
Roman Empire in the Augsburg Imperial Coinage Decree of 1559. According
to the directions, the imperial ducat was tobe issued 23 2h carats fine and with
a standard weight of 3.49 g. As can be seen from the higher weight of our piece,
Hungary continued to follow the regulations from the early period of florin
coinage: the fineness was the same, but the nominal weight was 3.55 g.
The obverse depicts St. Mary, who as patron saint of Hungary appeared on the
coins from 14 70. King Ladislaus, who was beatified in 1192, is depicted on the
reverse; his image replaced that of St.John the Baptist from 1358. The halb erd and
imperial orb symbolise on the one hand bis military achievements and on the
other the internal order of the country which he safeguarded.

PLATE 17
CITY OF HAMBURG

Portugalöser, n. d. (1574-1577)
Mint: Hamburg
Mintmaster: Andreas Metzner
Obverse: 'J!C MONETA. NOVA AVREA ° CIVITATIS · HAMBVRGENS ' /
O

* NACH· PORTVGALIS ·SCHROT· VND · KORN

Around the city arms, two circles of inscription; in the gate of the city,
below the portcullis, a nettle-leaf
Reverse: * IN· XP-0 · CRVCIFIXO · PENDET · SALVS · NRÄ
(In Christo crucifixo pendet salus nostra)
Cross of the Order of Christ, whose angles are filled by leaves and rhombuses
Weight: 35.13 g · O 41.1 mm
Literature: Gaedechens 3 - Bahrfeldt, Portugalöser 2

In its coinage the city of Hamburg can look back upon a lang tradition. In 1325 it
purchased the mint of its landlord, the Count of Holstein. The emperor granted
the city the privilege of striking Goldgulden from 1435 and also ducats fortyyears
later. It issued the latter until 1872.
Large gold coins of 10 ducats imitating the Portuguese 'Portugues' were produced
particularly in north German territories, and were known as Portugalöser,
on account of their origin (Plates 6 and 20). Most of these pieces were issued by
Hamburg from about 1560. As well as the full pieces, examples also exist in
double, half and quarter weights; these were frequently struck using the same
dies, i. e. with the same diameter, merely having different thicknesses.
The legends on the obverse clearly identify the Portugalöser shown here as a coin
meant for circulation, even if its high value hardly made it suitable for everyday
transactions. Its issue, which did not correspond to the prescriptions of the
Imperial coinage decrees, repeatedly gave rise to discussions at the coinage trial
meetings, and these led eventually to the passing of a resolution prohibiting it at
the Diet of Regensburg in 1576.
When the Portugalöser lost its status as money, the Hamburg Bank and other
companies began to produce it in medallic form for use as gifts.

PLATE 18
KINGDOM OF ENGLAND

Queen Elizabeth I, 1558-1603

Sovereign, n. d. (1585-1587)
Mint: London
Obverse: ELIZABETH ·D :G'·ANG:- FRA'·ET· HIB'·REGINA ·scallop·
(Elizabeth dei gratia Angliae Franciae et Hiberniae regina)
Within an arched tressure, the queen enthroned, holding sceptre and orb;
at her feet a portcullis
Reverse: A · DNO' · FACTV' · EST · ISTVD ·ET· EST · MIRAB' ·IN· OCVLIS ·
NRS scallop
(A domino factum est istud et est mirabile in oculis nostris)
The quartered royal arms over a stylised Tudor rase
Weight: 15.44 g · c/> 42.8 mm
Literature: North 2003

England, whose population numbered a mere four million at the time, grew up
under Elizabeth I into a trading and maritime power and began to play an impor-
tant part on the international political scene. The first English colony in America
was founded in 1584 and named Virginia after the unmarried queen, and the
Levant Company (1592) and East India Company (1600) were called into being.
The nautical knowledge won from the ocean journeys was an advantage in naval
warfare. When Philip II of Spain used the execution of the Catholic Mary Queen
of Scots in 1587 as a reason for going to war against Elizabeth the following year
with his seemingly invincible Armada, the English fleet showed itself to be
supenor.
The sovereign, which was given its name by the depiction of the majestic
enthroned ruler on its obverse, was introduced by Henry VII as early as 1489. lt
was of 23.9 carat gold and was originally worth 20 shillings of 12 pence, i. e. it
equalled the pound sterling. Now the 22 carat gold pound embodied this value,
while the sovereign was reckoned at 30 shillings and, as a result of its higher fine
gold content, was also described as the "fine" sovereign (see Plate 15).
The designs of the sovereign, which was struck for nearly 130 years until the reign
of James I (1603-25), were changed only in details, and remained medieval.
The same applied to the other fine gold issues, the ryal, angel and their fractions.
Merely the gothic script was replaced by simple, clear Roman lettering.
The portcullis under the queen's feet appeared on coins from the time of
Henry VIII; it was the sign of the Beaufort family, to which that king's grand-
mother belonged. The reverse legend 'This is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous
in our eyes' is taken from Psalm 118, verse 23, and first occurs on the sovereigns
of Mary the Catholic.
The coin shown here is dated (by the scallop mark placed at the ends of the
legends) to the years 1585 to 1587.

PLATE 19
CITY OF RIGA
under the Polish crown

King Stephan Bathory, 1576-1586

Portugalöser, 1586
Mint: Riga
Mintmaster: Herman Wulf
Obverse: STEPHANVS + D + G + REX + POLO + MAG + D + LI +
(Stephanus dei gratia rex Poloniae magnus dux Lithuaniae)
Hip-length portrait, crowned and armoured, right. The king holds a
shouldered sceptre in his right hand, and his left grips his sword-hilt
Reverse: + MONET + NOVA + AVREA + CIVITAT + RIGENS +
Two double-tailed lions holding the city arms of Riga; below, the date 15 - 86
Weight: 35.30 g · (/J 39.3 mm
Literature: Hutten-Czapski 771

Unlike the Archbishopric of Riga, which came under Polish suzerainty with the
cession of Livonia in 1561 (Plate 14) and ceased to exist after the death of the
Archbishop William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, in 1563, the city of
Riga was able to prolong its independence. Indeed, the city promised not to
separate itself from Livonia, and refused an oath of allegiance to the Polish king,
since it acknowledged only the German emperor as its protector. Not until 1581
did Riga place itself under the Polish crown.
Stephan Bathory, Grand Prince of Transylvania and from 1576 King of Poland,
restored minting rights to the city on condition that the coins issued should be of
Polish type and standard. lt is thanks to him that the unified Polish coinage
system was created with the decree of 1578: the coinage standard and external
appearance of the coins were laid down by statute. The king viewed technical
innovation with an open mind. He allowed the brothers Hans and Caspar Goebel
to set up a mint in the Marienburg and put their new rotary coining presses
into operation there. An increasing proportion of the coinage was produced by
private entrepreneurs. The lessees of the mints signed their coins with letters or
symbols; the lily at the beginning of the reverse legend of the illustrated coin is
such a mark.
Apart from normal issues, the city of Riga also issued Portugalöser of the weight
and value of ten ducats. However, unlike these coins produced in North
Germany (Plate 18), whose design closely follows that of the Portuguese proto-
type, Riga issued a completely independent type in the Polish tradition. Thus the
obverse bears the hip-length portrait familiar on many of the other coins of the
country and the large city arms of Riga take the place of the cross of the Order of
Christ on the reverse.
The representational Portugalösers were frequently worn mounted or turned
into jewellery; traces of a loop which was subsequently removed may be
recognised over the crown on the piece illustrated here.

PLATE 20
DUCHY OF PIACENZA

Duke Alexander Farnese, 1586-1592

2 doppie, 1591
Mint: Parma
Die-engraver: Andrea Casalino
Obverse: ALEX „ FAR „ PLAC „ 'E „ PAR „ DVX „ III „ 'E C „
(Alexander Farnesius Placentiae et Parmae dux III etc.)
Bust, left
Reverse: PLACENTIA „ FLORET · 1591 ·
She-wolf standing left, in front of three lilies; above, the ducal crown; below,
the initials of the die-engraver, · A · C ·
Weight: 13.09 g · (/) 30.7 mm
Literature: CNI 20

Parma and Piacenza passed into the possession of the Farnese in 1545, when
Pope Paul III made them over to his son Pierluigi, together with the title of duke.
In 1586 Pierluigi's grandson, Alexander Farnese, assumed nominal power over
this double duchy in Upper Italy. Alexander spent most of his life as a general
in the Netherlands, Spain and France. Following his mother, who was appointed
as administrator of the Spanish Netherlands by her half-brother King Philip II,
he fought there against the northern provinces, which seceded in 1581.
Despite his permanent absence, many coins with Alexander's portrait and in his
name were issued in the two duchies. The gold coinage of Piacenza - unlike that
of Parma - was restricted to the 2-doppie, or double pistoles; these were to be
manufactured with a nominal weight of 13.10 g and 21 % carats fine. Many of this
ruler's coin-designs were created according to ancient tradition. Thus the obverse
of our piece clearly harks back to the portrait-busts of Roman Imperial coins, and
the picture of the she-wolf on the reverse is likewise borrowed from mythology.
In this Alexander followed the example of his father, who had scenes of classical
antiquity depicted on the reverses of some of his coins.
The old name of the city (Placentia) also appears in the legends. It was colonised
by the Romans during the Second Punic War.

PLATE 21
DUCHY OF SÖDERMANLAND

Duke Charles, 1560-1604

8 marks, 1598
Mint: Stockholm
Mintmaster: Gillis Oulius) Coyet the Eider
Obverse: Sheaf of the Vasa, between C - D / · S ·
(Carolus dux. Sudermaniae)
Reverse: niil) 1- 5 - 9 - 8
(Yahwx 1598)
The name of God, in a circle surrounded by rays and flames; in the corners
of the square, the figures of the date
Weight: 3.25 g · </) 18.2xl7.9 mm
Literature: Tingström 7

Charles, Duke of Södermanland and the youngest son of Gustav Vasa, founder
of the Swedish state, first played apart in Sweden's political affairs after the death
of his brother Johan III. After Johan's son, King Sigismund III of Poland,
had acceded to power in Sweden in 1592, he found his bitterest antagonist in
Charles. Charles managed to frustrate Sigismund's efforts to unite Sweden with
Po land and to restore the country to Catholicism. Sigismund III was dethroned in
1599, a year after the duke's appointment as prime minister; in 1604 the Swedish
Estates raised the latter to king as Charles IX.
The coin illustrated here demonstrates a peculiarity of Scandinavian coinage.
These so-called klippinge were struck in Denmark and Sweden from the begin-
ning of the sixteenth century and owe their unusual appearance and their name
to the method of manufacture of their flans: the coin-blanks were cut out from
a sheet of metal using shears (i. e. "clipped"); they thus had a somewhat irregular
shape. The design was reduced to the bare essentials, moreover in a highly
abbreviated fashion. In fact, the statement of value was omitted from the piece
illustrated. The form of the reverse, which renders the name of God in Hebrew, is
conspicuous. Until the beginning of the eighteenth century, all Swedish rulers
(with the exception of Qyeen Christina, Plate 33) used mottoes which referred
to God, usually taken from the Old and New Testaments.
Apart from an impressive series of 6-ducat pieces from the years 1606-1609,
Charles issued gold coins with nominal values between five and sixteen marks.
The mark system had spread from North Germany to Scandinavia during the six-
teenth century and was introduced in Sweden under Gustav Vasa. In the new
accounting system four marks corresponded to one Riksdaler.

PLATE 22
DUCHY OF BRABANT

Archduke Albert of Austria and Archduchess Isabella, 1598-1621

Double Albertin, 1601
Mint: Antwerp
Die-engraver: Joos van Steynmolen
Obverse: • ALBERTVS ·ET· - ELISABET · D : G ·
(Albertus et Elisabeth dei gratia)
Beneath a !arge crown, a shield with the arms of Hungary/ Bohemia;
Castile/Leon and Aragon/Sicily charged with Portugal; Austria/Valois/
Burgundy/ Brabant charged with Flanders/ Tyrol; surrounded by the collar
of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Reverse: ARCHIDVCES AVST · DVCES · BVRG ·ET· BRAB · Z hand
(Archiduces Austriae duces Burgundiae et Brabantiae et)
Beneath a small crown, a St. Andrew's cross with floral ends; from the
middle hangs the Lamb of the Order of the Golden Fleece; in the field,
the date divided 16 - 01
Weight: 5.08 g · (/) 26.l mm
Literature: de Witte 892 - van Gelderand Hoc 284-1

Albert was the youngest son of the Emperor Maximilian II and his wife Maria, the
daughter of Charles V. He grew up and was educated at the Spanish court of
Philip II and was initially intended for an ecclesiastical career - in 1577 he was
created a cardinal and Archbishop of Toledo. In 1595 he became governor of the
Southern Netherlands, following the death of his brother Ernest. Four years
later he married lsabella (Elizabeth) Clara Eugenia, eldest daughter of
Philip II and heiress to this area, which they administered jointly as indepen-
dent regents.
Albert and lsabella attempted to stabilise their country's currency further by
means of politico-economic measures. To this end, in 1599 they ordered double
ducats and double and single Albertins tobe struck as new gold denominations.
The double Albertin, named after the Archduke, was worth two-thirds of the
double ducat, and circulated at 100 stuivers, a value last attained by the real
of Philip II (Plate 16). Compared with the latter, the double Albertin was
clearly debased: its nominal weight was 5.15 g and its fineness was prescribed
at 895.8/1000.
While the double ducat depicted the busts of the archducal couple facing each
other on the obverse, in Spanish style (Plate 2), both of the other issues took over
the coat of arms otherwise usual for the reverse.
On account of their poor standard, the Albertins circulated in !arge numbers
mainly in the northern provinces of the Netherlands, where they drove the fine
coin-types out of circulation.
The reverse legend, which ends with "and", refers to further titles for which no
more room could be found on the coin. A small superscript "c" is often added
to the latin "et".

PLATE 23
KINGDOM OF SCOTLAND

KingJames VI, 1567-1625

Sword and sceptre piece, 1603
Mint: Edinburgh
Obverse: ~ • IACOBVS · 6 · D · G · R · SCOTORVM ·
(Jacobus 6 dei gratia rex Scotorum)
Crowned Scots arms
Reverse: ~ • SALVS · POPVLI · SVPREMA ·LEX·
Crossed sceptre and sword; in the angles a crown (above) and thistles
(left and right); below, the date · 1603 ·
Weight: 5.07 g · </J 28.3 mm
Literature: Seaby 5460

The nobility, which under King James V of Scotland had gone over to Prot-
estantism, imprisoned the strict Catholic Mary Stuart in 1567, and forced her
to renounce the Scottish throne. The reason may have lain not just in her faith,
but also in her private life: the ~een's third marriage was to Lord Bothwell, who
was reckoned to be the murderer of her second husband. Her son James VI,
who was still a minor, was made the new king, and a regency established for
him. On the death of Queen Elizabeth I, he inherited the crowns of England
and Ireland in 1603.
One of the richest series of gold coins known to us came into being under
James VI. Counting fractional pieces, it consists of eleven coins with seven differ-
ent designs. The line began in 1575 with the twenty-pounds piece, a coin of
around 30 g struck from 22-carat gold, the heaviest denomination ever minted
here.
The ''sword and sceptre" piece (named after its reverse design) constitutes the last
issue, begun in 1601, and struck until 1604, as was the half-denomination
associated with it. lt superseded the rider, having the same weight and fineness,
but was raised in value from 100 to 120 shillings. This practice may be seen in all
the issues. The rapidly changing new types, appearing on average every three to
four years (and frequently altered in weight and fineness) were devalued vis-a-vis
the previous ones. The resulting profit helped to finance the enormous cost
of the royal household, provided that the called-in types were surrendered.
This was enforced under threat of heavy fines or imprisonment, but was often
unsuccessful.
The thistle reproduced on the reverse is a plant that is widespread in Scotland and
is to be found on many coins. There was also from the time of the Middle Ages an
Order of the Thistle. The legend reads in translation: the welfare of the people is
the supreme law.

PLATE 24
PRINCIPALITY OF TRANSYLVANIA

Prince Stephan Bocskai, 1604-1606

10 ducats, 1605
Mint uncertain
Obverse: ~ STE: BOCHKAY. D: G: HVNGA: TRAN: Q). PRIN: ET.
SICV :COMES
(Stephanus Bochkay dei gratia Hungariae Transilvaniaeque princeps
et Siculorum comes)
Armoured bust with flat Hungarian fur cap, right
Reverse: i:ep DVLCE. EST. PRO. PATRIA. MORI .1: 6 : 0: 5.
An arm issuing from clouds, holding a sword around which is wound
a banner bearing the words PRO. DEO / ET. PATRIA
Weight: 34.13 g · <j 41.1 mm
Literature: Resch 3

The Carpathian mountains formed the frontiers of Siebenbürgen to the north,

east and south. This country may have taken its name from the castle of Sibinburg
(later Hermannstadt), which was built in the twelfth century. To the west it was cut
off from Hungary by dense forests. From these it obtained the latin state-name
Transylvania, i. e. as seen from the Hungarian side "beyond the forest''.
Transylvania was an independent elective principality from 1556, and with the
support of the Ottoman Empire it represented a permanent threat to the
Habsburg monarchy in Hungary. In 1602 Sigismund Bathory handed the country
over to the Emperor Rudolf II. Two years later Transylvania, under the leadership
of Stephan Bocskai and aided by the Turks, successfully rase against foreign rule.
The reverse design refers to this reconquest of the country and the struggle
against the emperor, together with the words "it is sweet to die for one's country"
and the call "for God and Country''. The claim "Prince ofHungary" put forward in
the obverse legend is derived from the territories conquered in north and west
Hungary. The extremely extensive and splendid gold coinage of Bocskai is no
exception, but characterises all of the princes of this country. The richness in gold
of the Transylvanian Erzgebirge, known already to the Romans, allowed the
country's rulers to produce their coins mainly from this meta!. Only ducats and
their multiples were struck, as a rule up toten ducats' weight. Apart of the coined
gold was for payment as tribute to the court of the Ottoman Sultan, upon whose
consent the ability of a Transylvanian prince to rule ultimately depended.

PLATE 25
LORDSHIP OF TOURNAI

Archduke Albert of Austria and Archduchess Isabella, 1598-1621

Double souverain, n.d. (1612-1621)
Mint: Tournai
Die-engraver: Jaspar van der Heyden
Obverse: ALBER - TVS ·ET· ELIS - ABET · DEI GRAT - IA
ARCHI - DVCES mintmark tower
The archducal pair enthroned; both are crowned; Albert holds in his
right hand a sword, Isabella a sceptre
Reverse: AVSTRI/E · DVC - ES· BV - RG - VN - DI/E - E - T ·DOM·
TORNA1
(Austriae duces Burgundiae et domini Tornacensis et)
Beneath a large crown, a shield with the arms of Hungary/ Bohemia;
Castile/ Leon and Aragon/ Sicily charged with Portugal;
Austria/ Valois/ Burgundy/Brabant charged with Flanders/ Tyrol;
surrounded by the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Weight: 10.99 g · </) 38.2 mm
Literature: van Gelderand Hoc 304-7a

A treaty made with the northern N etherlands in 1609 brought the southern
provinces a period of peace after decades of conflict. Albert died in 1621 in
Brussels, the seat of the archducal pair. Since the marriage had been childless,
sovereignty over the area reverted to the Spanish crown - to King Philip IV
Isabella exercised the Stattholdership until her death in December 1633.
However, her name no langer appeared on the coinage.
The increase in the price of gold caused Albert and Isabella to issue a second series
of gold coins, whose weight and fineness were again reduced in relation to their
value in terms of small coins. The prototype of this new N etherlands coin, as may
be recognised from its name and design, was the English sovereign (Plate 19).
There were four values: half-, two-thirds and single souverains, as well as the
double souverain of 240 stuivers illustrated here, which was struck with the
same weight of 11.08 g and a fineness of 919/ 1000 until the end of the eighteenth
century.
The double souverain was produced in the mints of the provinces of Brabant,
Flanders and Tournai and had the highest output of all the values. The output
from Tournai was 70,086 pieces, according to surviving figures. On the single
souverain the Archduke and Archduchess are shown as hip-length figures turned
to the right, and on the two-thirds souverain they are reproduced as full-length
standing figures. Their clothing is characteristically Spanish, with typical high,
goffered ruffs.

PLATE 26
DUCHIES OF LIEGNITZ AND BRIEG

Dukes John Christian and George Rudolf, 1602-1621

6 ducats, 1616
Mint: Reichenstein
Obverse: t D : G · IOHA · CHRIS ·ET· GEOR · RVDO · DVC · SIL ·LI· BR·
(Dei gratia Johannes Christianus et Georgius Rudolphus duces Silesiae
Lignicensis Bregensis)
Busts of the two brother dukes, facing one another
Reverse: MONET ·NOV· REICHSTE!· 1616 ·
(Moneta nova Reichensteinensis 1616)
Shield with the arms of Liegnitz and Brieg, decorated with three helmets
and tendrils
Weight: 21.05 g · </> 41.1 mm
Literature: Friedensburg and Seger - cf.1497 - Friedberg 2845

Silesia had been divided into numerous small principalities since the middle of
the thirteenth century. The Lower Silesian Dukes of Liegnitz were among
the most powerful, together with their Brieg line, which came into being through
the division of an estate among several heirs, and which sometimes ruled
independently. The two territories, which lay on the left bank of the Oder, were
separated by the principality of Breslau.
The joint rule at first exercised by Dukes George Rudolf of Liegnitz and John
Christian of Brieg was reflected in the pictorial design of their eo ins. Th us on the
obverse both brothers are shown together,John Christian (the elder) on the left,
and George Rudolf, who was four years younger, on the right. The reverse shows
the arms of the territories, an eagle and chequers, both on the quartered shield
and on the crests of the helmets. The Silesian eagle with a crescent moon on its
breast, representing Liegnitz, always appears in the first and fourth quarters.
The reverse names the mint of Reichenstein as the place of origin. The father of
the two dukes had bought this mining town in the territory of Brieg from the
Lords ofRosenberg in 1599 and, after he had received the relevant Imperial privi-
lege, he set up a mint there. Reichenstein, as can indeed be seen from its name,
possessed ample mineral resources, among them deposits of gold, which John
Christian and George Rudolf used for a series of gold issues. These included
a remarkable number of pieces of three, four, five, six, and ten ducats' weight,
as well as quarter, half and single ducats.
In 1620 the mint was transferred from Reichenstein to Ohlau, because of
the threat of risk from war, and the joint coinage came to an end in July of the
following year.

PLAT E 27
KINGDOM OF ENGLAND

King James I, 1603-1625

Laurel, n. d. (1623/1624)
Mint: London
Obverse: IACOBVS D : G: MAG : BRI: FRA: ET HIB : REX+
CTacobus dei gratia Magnae Britanniae Franciae et Hiberniae rex)
Bust of the King, left, laureate and in armour, which is almost hidden
by a sash; behind his head, XX
Reverse: FACIA- M EOSIN - GENTEM - VNAM +
On a cross fleury almost reaching the edge, a crowned shield quartered
with the arms of England, Scotland and Ireland
Weight: 8.95 g · (/) 34.7 mm
Literature: North 2114

James VI, son of Mary Stuart by her second husband Lord Darnley, was King
of Scotland from 1567. On the death of the childless Elizabeth I the English
House of Tudor became extinct, and the succession feil to him. As James I he
ruled in a personal union the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland.
The coins of his reign refer clearly to this territorial union in their titulature,
legends, design and in part in name. The country names England and Scotland
were replaced from 1604 by the term Magna Britannia, which became officially
established as Great Britain only in 1707. The reverse legend typical of the denom-
ination illustrated here reads, in translation: I will make them one nation. These
words are taken from Chapter 37, verse 22 of the book of the prophet Ezekiel. The
shield also bears the Scots and Irish arms (lion and harp) in the second and third
quarters, as weil as the English. The laure!, introduced in 1619, took its name
from the King's laure! wreath, and is of 22 carat gold, valued at twenty shillings, as
indicated by the Roman numerals which appear here for the first time. However,
its weight is less than Elizabeth's pound, which was of the same fineness and
value. The same was also true of the previous issue, the unite (whose name is due
to the reverse legend), which had a nominal weight of 10.03 g.
As weil as the laurels, fractional coins of 1/z- and 1/4-Jaurel were struck during the
years 1619 to 1625, with the same designs.

PLATE 28
CITY OF MAGDEBURG

Goldgulden, 1628
Mint: Magdeburg
Mintmaster: Peter Schrader
Obverse: MO: NO: AVR •CI· MAGDEBV - 16z8
(Moneta nova aurea civitatis Magdeburgensis 1628)
A maiden with a wreath in her raised right hand, above a castle
Reverse: FERDINANDUS · D: G : RO: IM: SE: A ~
(Ferdinandus dei gratia Romanorum imperator semper augustus)
Crowned double-headed Imperial eagle with the Imperial orb on its breast;
above its wings the mintmaster's initials P - S
Weight: 3.20 g · </> 22.8 mm
Literature: von Schrötter, Magdeburg 1010

Magdeburg, which lay on the middle Elbe, was an important ecclesiastical, cultu-
ral and economic centre. Here the land routes from the west and the east met and
crossed one of the great waterways which ran from the south to the north.
An extensive coinage, which can be traced back to the tenth century, underlines
the importance of this place. lt was produced at first in the name of the German
king, and subsequently in that of the archbishop. The city itself obtained the right
to strike gold and silver coins from the Emperor Maximilian II in 1567, and exer-
cised this for over a century until it passed into the possession of Brandenburg.
From 1571, in accordance with the instructions laid down by the Augsburg
Imperial Coinage Decree of 1559, Magdeburg principally struck Gulden (repro-
duced here) as its gold currency coins, and occasionally pieces of double weight
as weil. 72 pieces were tobe struck from a Cologne mark of 233.856 g, which gave
a nominal weight of 3.25 g. The fineness was 18.5 carats, or about 771/1000. The
reverse is designed according to the Imperial instructions, and names in the
legend the Emperor Ferdinand II, who was reigning at the time of its production.
The "punning" arms of the city, a maiden (Magd) over a castle (Burg) fill the
obverse, surrounded by the words "new gold money of the city of Magdeburg''.
The almost total destruction of Magdeburg in 1631 during the Thirty Years War
ended the issue of Goldgulden, whose last issue bears the date 1630. The ducat,
which from the mid-sixteenth century was the principal gold coin of the German
Empire, served as its successor a few years later.

PLATE 29
PRINCE-BISHOPRIC OF LIEGE

Prince-bishop Ferdinand of Bavaria, 1612-1650

Ecu d'or Ferdinandus, 163 7
Mint: Liege
*
Obverse: FERDINANDVS · D · G · ARCH · COL · P · ELEC
(Ferdinandus dei gratia archiepiscopus Coloniensis princeps elector)
A cross fleury with an elector's cap over each of its four ends; in each of
the four angles, the letter F
Reverse: EPIS ·ET· PRIN · LEO ·V· B · S · B · DVX;
above, the date divided 16 - 37
(Episcopus et princeps Leodiensis utriusque Bavariae, supremus
Builloniensis dux)
Beneath an elector's cap, the arms of Bavaria charged with Bouillon;
behind, crossed crozier and sword
Weight: 3.36 g · </> 25.9 mm
Literature: Chestret de Haneffe 583 - Delmonte 355

The bishopric of Liege, with its seat in the same city, extended chiefly along the
left and right banks of the river Meuse. Its most southerly area was the Duchy of
Bouillon. The territory was virtually enclosed on all sides by the Spanish Nether-
lands, the provinces of Brabant, Hainault and Luxembourg. From the Middle
Ages Liege belonged to the ecclesiastical province of Cologne.
Ferdinand of Bavaria was the second of five Wittelsbach regents to become a
bishop. He was at the same time Archbishop of Cologne and Bishop of Münster,
Hildesheim and Paderborn; he lived mainly in Bonn.
The existing gold eo ins of Ferdinand from Liege date from the first three years of
his reign and the period between 1631 and 1644. Independent creations are not
known: instead, older prototypes such as Rhenish Gulden were adopted, or types
from other territories were copied, even (in 1638) the Dutch ducat. One of the
most important was the ecu d'or (also known as the couronne d'or), introduced
into the Netherlands by the Emperor Charles V in 1540, which was Struck most
frequently for Ferdinand, apparently simultaneously with the neighbouring
provinces. Under the regents Albert and Isabella, this denomination was the gold
coin with the highest output between 1614 and 1621, 76,386 examples being
produced in Brabant, Flanders and Tournai. Their successor Philip IV issued over
half a million coins of this type, starting in 1623 and more intensively in the
thirties and forties.
Ferdinand's ecu d'or was based on the coinage reform of 1614, which pre-
scribed a standard weight of3.38 g and a fineness of 882/ 1000, which our example
(c. 850/1000) does not achieve.

PLATE 30
DUCHY OF SAVOY

Duke Carlo Emanuele II,

under the regency of his mother Christina, 1638-1648
4 scudi, 1639
Mint: Turin
Mintmasters: L. Buggia, G. P. Rotta, S.Virante
Obverse: CHR· FRAN · CAR · EMAN · DVCES · SAB + 1639 +
(Christina Francia Carolus Emanuel duces Sabaudiae 1639)
Busts of Christina and Carlo Emanuele, right
Reverse: Ornament P @P @PEDEMON @REGES @CYPRI
(Principes Pedemontium reges Cypri)
Beneath a !arge crown, a highly decorated shield with the arms
of Jerusalem/ Cyprus/ Armenia/ Luxembourg, Westphalia, Chablais/ Aosta,
Geneva/ Montferrat, charged with the Savoy shield
Weight: 13.31 g · (/; 30.7 mm
Literature: CNI 1 var. - Simonetti 5/ 1 var.

Following the death of Duke Vittorio Amedeo I, his widow in 1637 undertook
the regency on behalf of her two under-age sons. Of these, Francesco Giacinto
outlived his father by only about a year, so that in 1638 the younger, Carlo
Emanuele, assumed the position of heir to the dukedom. In 1648 he commenced
sole rule, at the age of fourteen.
The coinage for Carlo Emanuele II began in 1639, when the Turin mintmasters
Buggia, Rotta and Virante received permission to strike 126,771 scudi in eight-,
four- and two-scudi pieces; however, in the first year only the four-scudi denomi-
nation was issued. The obverse of the example shown here was struck using a die
for the mezza lira, which was virtually identical in design.
The title "King of Cyprus" shown in the reverse legend, and the corresponding
arms in the first quarter of the shield hark back to a legacy of Charlotte de
Lusignan. In 1487 she had transferred the hereditary title of the Kingdom of
Cyprus to Charles I of Savoy, her husband's nephew. The extraordinarily varied
gold coinage of this ruler is reflected in the multiplicity of his coins: in all, eleven
different denominations were issued between 1638 und 1675. Among these,
show-pieces of ten, twenty, thirty and forty scudi are noteworthy. These were
designed for use by the court rather than for general currency.
Parallel to the coins which show the young duke with his mother, his two uncles
(who opposed the regent) produced ten-, four- and double-scudi pieces bearing
only Carlo Emanuele's portrait.

PLATE 31
KINGDOM OF FRANCE

King Louis XIII, 1610-1643

Louis d'or, 1640
Mint: Paris
Medallist: Jean Warin
Obverse: LVD ·XIII· D · G · - FR· ET· NAV ·REX· 1640 ·
(Ludovicus XIII dei gratia Francorum et Navarrae rex)
Laureate head of the king, right
Reverse: • CHRS · - · REGN · - · VINC · - · IMP ·
(Christus regnat, vincit, imperat)
Cross formed from eight crowned Ls, with fleurs-de-lys in the angles,
and in the middle the mint-letter A in a circle
Weight: 6.69 g · (/) 24.0 mm
Literature: Ciani 1613

The reign of Louis XIII was largely dominated by the outstanding personality of
Cardinal Richelieu, who was appointed as the leading minister in 1624. By
reducing the political rights of the nobility and the Huguenots, he strengthened
the kingship and turned the country into an absolutist state. In addition,
Richelieu founded in 1635 the famous Academie Frarn;:aise for the cultivation of
arts and sciences, whose 40 members are known as "the immortals".
The influx into the country of numerous foreign coins whose fineness was lower
than that of the French ecu d'or led Louis XIII to a fundamental coinage reform.
A new unit, the Louis d'or, which matched the standard of the Spanish pistole,
was introduced by the decree of 31 March 1640. The legally prescribed fineness
was 22 carats, and the nominal weight 6.75 g. The Louis d'or was thus double the
weight of the 23 carat ecu d'or, which continued tobe struck, though its value was
increased from its previous 65 to 104 sols tournois; the Louis d'or was worth
10 livres of 20 sols tournois. The precious metal for the new coins came from the
old ecus d'or, but above all from foreign coins. The designs of the Louis d'or
derived from those of the sixteenth-century Henri d'or (Plate 13). The cross
made from the initial letter of the King's name and the well-known legend
which had accompanied it for centuries carried on the reverse design of the
ecu d'or, albeit iconographically altered.
A half-Louis and multiples of two-, four-, eight- and ten-Louis were also
produced. These high values had a more medallic character and served as gifts.
With the new gold coins, mechanical striking and edge-milling were finally
introduced; in 1645 all French mints were equipped with the new machinery. This
was mainly due to the medallist Jean Warin, who was born in Liege in 1604.

PLATE 32
DUCHY OF POMERANIA
under Swedish rule

Queen Christina, 1632-1654, sole ruler from 1644

Ducat, 1642
Mint: Stettin
Mintmaster: Ulrich Butkau
!
Obverse: \'f CHRISTINA* D G * SVE *GO* VAND * Q *DES* R
(Christina dei gratia Suecorum Gothorum Vandalorumque designata regina)
Bust of the Qieen almost full-front
Reverse: \'t MO - NETA ·NOVA· DVCA · PO MERAN· 1642
(Moneta nova ducatus Pomeraniae 1642)
Nine-part Pomeranian arms in an ornamental shield
Weight: 3.43 g · <j) 22.6 mm
Literature: Ahlström 4

The Ducal House of Pomerania died out in 163 7 on the death of Bogislaw XIV.
The Swedish army of occupation, on Pomeranian soil as a result of the Thirty
Years War, successfully opposed legitimate claims to the territory which Branden-
burg-Prussia also sought to impose militarily. In the Peace ofWestphalia in 1648,
the larger (and with the ports of Stettin and Stralsund the more important) part of
Pomerania fell to Sweden; Brandenburg-Prussia acquired only Parther Pomerania
and the bishopric of Kammin.
Following the death of her father Gustavus II Adolphus, the National Council
named Christina, then aged six, as successor and queen-designate, and estab-
lished a regency for her until her majority in 1644. Six years after taking over sole
government she finally had herself crowned with great splendour, in order to
prepare for her abdication soon afterwards. In 1654 she relinquished the royal
dignity, converted to the Catholic faith, and settled in Rome. There she devoted
herself almost exclusively to building up her art collection, which amongst other
things included an important coin collection, consisting predominantly of
antique pieces. Christina herself was considered an expert numismatist and
also made her collection available to scholars for study. One of these was Joseph
Hilarius von Eckhel, the founderof the modern science of Ancient Numismatics.
During Christina's reign, the coins of Sweden differed greatly from those of the
numerous Swedish possessions. In Sweden itself only silver and copper (in
increasing quantities) were struck, while in the regions possessed by Sweden an
extensive and sometimes splendid series of gold ducats and their multiples was
struck alongside the silver series. Realistically, they depict Christina as a young
girl. Coins with her portrait on the obverse and the city or country arms on the
reverse were produced at Reval, Riga and in Pomerania. The areas of Stettin,
Pomerania (reversed), Kassuben, Wenden, Rügen, Usedom, Barth, Gützkow and
Wolgast are represented on the Pomeranian coat of arms illustrated here.

PLATE 33
KINGDOM OF DENMARK

King Christian IV, 1588-1648

1
/z ducat, 1644
Mint uncertain
Mintmaster: Henrik K0hler
Obverse: CHRISTIANU · - flower - S: 4: D: G ·DAN: R ·
(Christianus 4 dei gratia Daniae rex)
King standing to right, with sceptre and royal orb
Rev erse: Ornament / . IUSTUS. / iJl"il! / · IUDEX. / 16f44
(Iustus Yahwä: Iudex 1644)
Inscription in four lines; the year is divided by the mintmaster's mark
Weight: 1.73 g · (/J 19.0 mm
Literature: Hede 35

Christian IV was declared to be of age by the Rigsraad and assumed sole rule as
King of Denmark and Norway in 1596. His unfortunate foreign policy brought
the country severe losses. Thus Christian had to abandon his designs for the
acquisition of north German territories in the Peace of Lübeck, brought about at
the instigation of Wallenstein in 1629. However, Danish territories remained
untouched in the negotiations. In contrast, the losses of lands to which Denmark
was forced to consent at the close of the war with Sweden in 1645 were more
serious. With the abandonment of the islands ofGotland and Öse!, Denmark lost
its influence in the Baltic; its possessions in Sweden were lost as weil.
Directly after the invasion of Jutland by Swedish troops in 1643, Christian had
gold and silver coins struck which referred to this event. Körfiz Ulfeld, high
steward and the king's son-in-law, was responsible for the manufacture of these
inferior coins, which were not popular with the populace and were called
"Hebrews" because of their reverse legend. They were struck at Copenhagen,
Elsinore and Frederiksborg. Instead of the king, only his monogram was shown
on the obverse of the silver coins. The reverse legend "God (is a) just judge" may
be interpreted as an appeal to God's justice.
Gold coins were issued with values of 2, 1, 1/z and 1/ 4 ducat, with a fineness of only
ca. 964 / 1000. Although supplied with an independent reverse, the obverse can be
clearly recognised as using the Hungarian ducat as its prototype. Christian's
extensive gold series includes further imitations, of English ryals and sovereigns,
Rhenish Gulden and Portugalöser. This king thus left an exceptionally varied
coinage, with a total of around 180 types.

PLATE 34
IMPERIAL CITY OF ZWOLLE

Ducat, 1650
Mint: Zwolle
Mintmaster: Arend van Romunde
Die-engraver: Gerrit Versefelt
Obverse: FARDINA: III - D: G: R: H: BO
(Ferdinandus III dei gratia rex Hungariae Bohemiae)
The crowned emperor, standing half-right in full armour, holding the sceptre
in his right hand and the imperial orb in his left; between his feet, the arms
of Zwolle, and in the field the date, divided 16- 50
Reverse: MONE / AVRIA / CIVIT / ZWOL
(Moneta aurea civitatis Zwollensis)
A four-line inscription on an ornamental tablet
Weight: 3.48 g · </J 22.9 mm
Literature: Delmonte 1133 - cf.Verkade pl.168,4

Zwolle lies in the province of Overijssel, which extended from the Ijsselmeer in
the west to the German frontier in the east, and which from 1581 belonged to the
northern United Netherlands. The present capital of this area, it was, with the
two other Imperial cities of Deventer and Campen, an important trading centre
and a member of the Hanse.
Zwolle had received the privilege of striking coins from the Emperor Frederick III
in 1488. Following a 16th-century phase of joint coinage by the three named cities,
Zwolle opened its own mint again in 1591.
Our ducat comes from this second, independent period, which lasted for around
a century. A first brief look suggests that it might be an issue of the northern
Netherlandish Provinces (Plate 52). The Imperial city of Zwolle adopted the
principal type issued and circulating in this region, and only altered such details
as were necessary. The place of the knight was taken by the emperor, in the same
posture, with the Imperial insignia, and the obverse legend was connected with
him. The tabular inscription of the reverse names the city of Zwolle as mint, but
omits the formula "according to Imperial law" which the ducat of the Provinces
includes.
Apart from the single denomination, double ducats with the same designs were
also issued in the years 1655, 1656 and 1662. An analysis of the fineness of our
ducat gave a figure of c. 965 / 1000.

PLATE 35
COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND

Unite, 1651
Mint: London
Obverse: •THE ·COMMONWEALTH· OF ·ENGLAND· sun
The shield of St. George in a wreath of palm and laurel
Reverse: • GOD · WITH ·VS· 1651
Shield of St. George and shield of lreland; above them · XX·
Weight: 9.00 g · (/J 34.0 mm
Literature: North 2715

Political and religious differences between Charles I and Parliament led eventu-
ally to the outbreak of civil war in England in 1642. Seven years later, the king
was executed and a republic proclaimed, ruled by a 41-member Council of State,
until Oliver Cromwell had himself named Lord Protector of England, Scotland
and lreland in 1653.
In design and legend, the eo ins of these years have nothing whatever in common
with the royal issues. Obverse and reverse are filled onlywith single, plain coats of
arms; for England a shield with the cross ofSt. George, patron saint of the country
since the 13 th century, was chosen. For the first time the inscription is no langer in
Latin, but is given in English. Coins of silver and gold bear this uniform type in all
denominations, but with some of the elements of the design missing on the
small denominations. Also, a Statement of the respective values and dates was
prescribed.
Fineness and weight remained unaltered. The unite of 20 shillings shown here is
of 22 carat gold and has a standard weight of 9.10 g. lt thus matches the laurel
of 20 shillings introduced by James I in 1619. Only in name does it go back to
an earlier issue.

PLATE 36
DUCHY OF BRABANT

King Philip IV of Spain, 1621-1665

Souverain, 1655
Mint: Brussels
Die-engraver: Balthazar Laureys
Obverse: ·PHIL· IIII · D · G · HISP ·ET· INDIAR ·REX· mintmark a small head
(Philippus IIII dei gratia Hispaniarum et Indiarum rex)
A crowned rampant lion, left; he supports himself on a globe with his left
forepaw and holds a sword aloft with his right; below, the date 1655
Reverse: • ARCHID · AVST · DV - X· BVRG · BRAB · Z
(Archidux Austriae dux Burgundiae Brabantiae et)
Beneath a !arge crown, a shield with the arms of Castile/ Leon and Aragon/
Sicily charged with Portugal; Austria/ Valois/ Burgundy/ Brabant charged with
Flanders/ Tyrol; surrounded by the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Weight: 5.54 g · r/) 29.2 mm
Literature: de Witte 998 - van Gelderand Hoc 325 - 3

Philip IV left the administration of the N etherlandish part of his empire, which
on the death of Archduke Albert had reverted directly to the Spanish crown, in
the hands of governors.
In 1621, after the Twelve Years Truce, armed conflict again broke out with the
northern United Provinces, whose independence was finally acknowledged
in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. To distinguish it from the northern "States
General", the term "Spanish Netherlands" was adopted for the southern part.
By and large, Philip IV maintained the coinage system introduced in the southern
N etherlands by Albert and Isabella in 1612 (Plate 26). However, of the four pieces
in the souverain series, he issued only the double and the single value, the latter
illustrated here. This was also called the lion d'or (golden lion) on account of
its altered obverse design. The name and motif had been known previously in
these lands on coins of the Middle Ages (Vol. II, plate 50). The title rex Indiarum,
referring to the central and south Arnerican possessions, is found for the first time
on Netherlands coins under Philip IV.
The single souverain was increased in weight and reduced in fineness relative
to the issue established in 1612, i. e. like the double it was now struck with a
fineness of 919/1000 and had a nominal weight exactly half that of the latter.
The so uverain had tobe revalued in 1644 because of the rise in the price of gold;
instead of 120, it was now valued at 133 stuivers. Philip IV issued a third type of
gold coin, a crown of French type, i. e. the ecu d'or.

PLATE 37
IMPERIAL CITY OF FRANKFURT AM MAIN

Ducat, 1657
Mint: Frankfurt am Main
Mintmaster: Johann Ludwig Hallaicher
Obverse: NOMEN DOMINI TVRRIS FORTISSIM A
The crowned Frankfurt eagle, looking right; below, the date 1 - 6 - 5 - 7
Reverse: DVCATVS / N OVVS / REIPVB / FRANCO / FVRT
(Ducatus novus reipublicae Francofurtensis)
Five-line inscription in a decorated cartouche; above it, the mintmaster's
symbol of three acorns
Weight: 3.45 g · r/J 22.4 mm
Literature: Joseph and Fellner 486

The Frankfurt fairs, initially annual, then twice-yearly (spring and autumn),
turned the city not only into one of the most significant trading centres in the
west of the German Empire but also into an important finance and exchange
centre. The prestige of the city was increased by the Imperial elections and (from
1562) coronations, which took place in the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew,
to which the seven Electors and their numerous retinues travelled in the years
in question, tarrying there for weeks or even months.
The city used the right to strike gold coinage, granted by the Emperor Charles V
in 1555, from 1572. The Gulden initially issued in this meta! were succeeded as
trading coins in 1633 by ducats, whose last examples bear the date 1856. Their
issue was especially plentiful towards the end of the Thirty Years War. The pre-
cious metal for the ready money that was much needed at this time frequently
came from gold and silver vessels and utensils. The obverse legend "the name of
the Lord is the surest defence" also refers to these disturbed tim es. The reverse
design, which goes back to the Dutch ducats (Plate 52), was retained for this de-
nomination until 1749, with only minor variations.
The mintmaster J. L. Hallaicher, who was summoned from Augsburg, worked at
the Frankfurt mint from 1646 until 1666. This follows, inter alia, from his "signa-
ture'; the three acorns, which he was required to place, together with the date, on
all the types coined by him.

PLATE 38
CITY OF THORN
under the Polish crown

King John Casimir, 1648-1668

5 ducats, 1659
Mint: Thorn
Mint lessee (?): R, (H. Lauer?)
Obverse: IOAN: CAS :D: G :REX ·POL·ET·SVE · M · D · L·R · P·
(Joannes Casimirus dei gratia rex Poloniae et Suecorum magnus dux
Lithuaniae Russiae Prussiae)
Crowned armoured bust, right
Reverse: W EX AVRO · SO LIDO· CIVIT: THORVNENS: FIERI F:
(Ex auro solido civitas Thorunensis fieri fecit)
View of the city of Thorn, with boats plying the Weichsel in the foreground.
In the clouds above the city two hovering angels, holding the decorated
arms of Thorn; below left, 16 IL 59
Weight: 17.22 g · (j) 36.9 mm
Literature: Hutten-Czapski 2133

Simultaneously with the secession of several Prussian territories from the

Teutonic Order in 1454, the city of Thorn also dissociated itself from the Order
and placed itself under the protection of the Polish king. The striking of coins
with the royal portrait and titles was begun in Thorn by order of Casimir IV
while the city was still the subject of disputes between the Order and Poland.
In 1457 Thorn, together with Danzig and Elbing, received the mint right for all
time. This privilege was confirmed by Casimir's successors, and it preserved
the city from condemnation at the Warsaw Imperial Diet in 1632 for alleged
unlawful exercise of coining activity.
During the reign of]ohn Casimir, Thorn was captured in 1655 by Sweden in the
course of the Swedish-Polish war, and was only won back by Poland three years
later. Besides Poland's external threats, John Casimir had to grapple with great
difficulties within the country.
The voluminous gold coinage of this king stood in stark contrast to these external
and internal political conditions. The ducat - single and half - and its multiples
were issued. The three-, four-, five- and ten-ducat pieces were struck only in Thorn
and Danzig. On the reverse they show the respective city views, and thereby
differ from the smaller denominations. The difference is a reference to the
purpose of these pieces: although they were struck according to the current
coinage standard and on occasion furnished with a Statement of value, they were
not denominations meant for general currency, but coins for gifts, specially made
for this purpose.

PLATE 39
KINGDOM OF PORTUGAL

Prince-regent Peter, 1667-1683

Moeda de ouro, 1678
Mint: Lisbon
Obverse: PETRVS D · G · P · PORTVGALI/E
(Petrus dei gratia princeps Portugaliae)
Crowned coat of arms; at its sides left, the value 4000 and right, four rosettes
Reverse:· IN HOC· SIGNO · VINCES · 1678
Cross of the Order of Christ, with rosettes in its angles
Weight: 10.60 g · </> 29.0 mm
Literature: Ferraro Vaz PR. 08

With the extinction of its royal house in 1580, Portugal fell to Spain. Sixty years
later a national uprising elevated Duke John of Braganza to king. However,
Portugal regained her independence from Spain (with English support) only
through the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668.
John's son, Alfonso VI, being declared unfit to rule, his younger brother Peter
took over the affairs of state in 1667 as Prince Regent.
During his regency, Peter (eventually tobe raised to the Portuguese throne in 1683
as Peter II) issued single, double and quadruple cruzados in gold. The last were
given the simple name moeda de ouro, i. e. gold coin. The smaller values of one
and two cruzados were correspondingly also designated as quarto (quarter) and
meia . (half) de moeda. These coins, described collectively by the single term
"moidore'; were well known as global trading coins, and around 1700 were
particularly widespread in Ireland and the west of England.
The cruzado, which was current for 400 reis during the sixteenth century, was
continually raised in value, because of the rise in the price of gold. By 1662 it had
achieved a value of 1,000 reis, i. e. the moeda was worth 4,000, as stated here.
The design of the cruzado had not been altered from earlier times (Plate 12).
The obverse shows the crowned coat of arms surrounded by a legend with the
name and title of the regent. The five small shields set in the middle in a cross,
which still form part of the Portuguese arms today, had already appeared on
the medieval morabitini (Vol. II, Plate 19). As with the earlier cruzados and the
Portugues, the reverse bears the cross of the Order of Christ and the explanatory
legend "in this sign you will conquer''.
The moeda shown here, with its clear, sharp designs, comes from the first year of
mechanical manufacture, introduced in Portugal in 1677. A further technical
innovation was added in 1686: the decorated edge, which was intended to
frustrate clipping of the gold coinage.

PLATE 40
PAPAL STATE

Pope Innocent XI, 1676-1689

Qiadrupla, 1678/ 1679
Mint: Rome
Mint Director: Monsignore Ottaviano Corsini
Die-engraver: Giovanni Gohannes) Hamerani
Obverse: INNOCEN ·XI· PONT ·MAX· AN· III
(Innocentius XI pontifex maximus annus III)
Bust with camauro and richly decorated stole, right; below, the ligatured
letters ]Hf Gohannes Hameranus fecit)
Reverse: FVNDA 4 NOS - IN o1. PACE"'
The Virgin Mary, surrounded by rays and clouds, seated on a rainbow;
below, the mint director's arms
Weight: 13.35 g · </J 32.5 mm
Literature: Muntoni 1

During the seventeenth century the territory of the Papal State, which was
numbered amongst the largest territories on Italian soil, stretched from the Po in
the north to the city of Terracina in the south. The Popes were not just spiritual
chief shepherds, but also secular territorial princes, and as such sought to secure
and expand their power.
On 21 September 1676 the bishop of Novara, Benedict Odescalchi, was elected
Pope and mounted the sacred throne as Innocent XL He was charitable and
humane by nature, but extremely strict in his moral principles and ranked as
a bitter enemy of the Jesuits.
In his coinage, Innocent followed the example of his predecessors. Like them he ·
authorised the issue in gold only of the scudo d'oro, its double, and the fourfold
value illustrated here, which can be precisely dated by the pontifical year shown.
This began on the day of the Papal election and thus was not identical with the
calendar year.
The dies for Innocent's coins were prepared by Giovanni Hamerani, the nephew
of Johann Andreas Hameran, ofBavarian origin, who had settled in Rome at the
beginning of the seventeenth century. He and his descendants worked for the
Popes as die-engravers for nearly two centuries.
Alexander VII had transferred the mint, originally housed in the Castell
St. Angela, to the Papal palace. The famous architect and sculptor, Bernini,
had been employed in the installation of its water mills.

PLATE 41
KINGDOM OF ENGLAND

Qyeen Mary and King William, 1689-1694

5 guineas, 1692
Mint: London
Obverse: GVLIELMVS ·ET· MARIA· DEI· GRATIA
Jugate profile busts of the king and queen, right; William's head is laureate;
under the truncation of his bust, an elephant with a castle on its back
Reverse: MAG· BR· FR· ET· HIB · - REX· ET· REGINA · 16-92 ·
(Magnae Britanniae Franciae et Hiberniae rex et regina 1692)
A crowned, decorated shield quartered with the arms of England, Scotland
and Ireland, charged with the lion arms of Nassau
Edge: +·DECVS·ET·TVTAMEN· ·ANNO·REGNI·QVARTO· + ·
Weight: 41.67 g · </; 37.5 mm
Literature: Seaby 3423

James II, having been converted in 1672, tried to restore Catholicism to the
country. The birth of an heir to the throne caused Parliament in 1688 to call to
England William of Orange, governor in the Netherlands, who was married to
Mary, the Protestant daughter of the English king. James II fled to France. The
followingyear William III and Marywere raised to the English throne, with equal
rights; they reigned together only for a few years, since the Queen died at the
beginning of January 1695.
The guinea, introduced in 1663, was the principal English gold coin until 1816.
lt took its name from Guinea, situated on the west coast of Africa, whose
rich deposits of gold were imported into England by the African Company.
Its mark, a small elephant (or, as on the example shown here, an elephant with
a castle) is tobe found on the obverse of many issues, as a reference to the source
of the precious meta!.
A decisive innovation in manufacture accompanied the new gold coins.
Mechanical coining, which Elizabeth I had unsuccessfully attempted to
introduce a century earlier, finally superseded manufacture by hand. For the
first time, the technical requirements for milling and edge-lettering were met,
and this effectively eliminated clipping of the coins and with it the diminution
of their value. Referring to this, the words "an ornament and a safeguard",
taken from Virgil's A eneid, were used on the edge of the 5 guineas until the
nineteenth century.
The added lion-shield is the coat of arms of the House of Nassau-Orange, from
which William was descended.
The engravers of this unsigned coin may be identified as the brothers James
and Norbert Roettiers, members of a famous Flemish family of minters and
medallists, which was active at the London mint for several generations.
The Bank of England was founded under William and Mary, in 1694.

PLATE 42
DUCHY OF MECKLENBURG

Duke Frederick William, 1692-1713

1
ducat, 1701
/4

Mint: Schwerin
Mintmaster: Zacharias Daniel Kelpe
Obverse: FRIDERICVS WILH - DG DVX MECLENB
(Fridericus Wilhelmus dei gratia dux Mecklenburgensis)
Beneath a crown, a shield with the arms of Mecklenburg, Rostock, Schwerin,
Ratzeburg, Stargard and Wenden, charged with the shield of the Counts
of Schwerin, and draped with a prince's mantle
Reverse: QVO DEVS ET FORTVNA DVCVNT * 1701 •
Crowned steer's head
Weight: 0.85 g · (/J 15.5 mm
Literature: Evers 153,4

Mecklenburg's history was characterised by numerous partitions and reunifi-

cations of the country. Division into the lines of Schwerin and Güstrow took
place in 1556, while from 1628 Albert of Wallenstein ruled the whole duchy for
a short time. However, the deprived dukes were able to win back both parts of
their possessions in 1630. Frederick William was eventually able to settle to his
own advantage the succession crisis which broke out in 1695 with the death of
the Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. A commission of settlement set up by the
emperor awarded him the greater part of Güstrow in 1701, while his opponent
Adolf Frederick II had tobe content with Mecklenburg-Strelitz, made up from
the remaining territory and the principality of Ratzeburg.
The production of coinage was instituted in Mecklenburg at the beginning of the
thirteenth century. The Dukes Magnus and Balthasar requested in 1495 from the
Emperor Maximilian I the privilege of having th e right to strike gold coinage, and
they were permitted to issue Goldgulden according to the Rhenish standard.
Here, as in many other territories, these were later replaced by ducats.
During his reign, Frederick William authorised the issue of ducats with various
designs. All bear the coat of arms on one side, while the other depicts a portrait of
the ruler, his extremely complex monogram, or a steer's head. The last is to be
found on Mecklenburg issues as early as the thirteenth century. In the course of
time, the steer's head became the land's coat of arms, and was also occasionally
used as a coin design, as in this case. The meaning of this representation is unclear:
The idea that it is traceable to an old heathen steer-cult in Rethra (the former chief
shrine of the Wends) is as yet unproven.

PLATE 4 3
KINGDOM OF FRANCE

King Louis XIV, 1643-1715

Louis d'or aux 8 Let aux insignes (1701/ 1702)
Mint: Paris
Die-engraver: Joseph Roettiers
Obverse: LVD · XIIII · D · G sun - FR· ET· NAV · REX
(Ludovicus XIIII dei gratia Francorum et Navarrae rex)
Laureate bust, right
Reverse: CHRS ·- · REGN ·- · VINC ·- · IMP .i.
(Christus regnat, vincit, imperat)
Cross formed from eight crowned Ls; the angles filled by two crossed sceptres,
headed by hands and fleurs-de-lys; in the middle, the mint-letter A
Weight: 6.66 g · </J 25.9 mm
Literature: Ciani 1805

Louis XIV, who owes his nickname "the Sun King" to this universally-used
symbol, transferred his permanent residence to Versailles in 1682. This splendid
chateau and its famous extensive pleasure gardens with their fountains still
attract numerous visitors today.
An expensive court with a large royal household (which became the con-
temporary ideal for many princes), and above all the wars of conquest against
Spain, Holland and the Palatinate as well as the War of the Spanish Succession,
put extraordinary stress on the national budget in the last decades of his long
re1gn.
From 1689 the king made use of the gold and silver coinage to finance these exter-
nal undertakings. The circulating coins were lowered in value and then called in
and overstruck, in order subsequently to reintroduce them to circulation with
a higher value. These so-called "Reformations" were repeated several times until
1708. The Louis d'or illustrated here was overstruck on a Louis d'or aux quatre L,
a type of the years 1693 to 1695. The obverse design overlies the former reverse:
traces of a crown and the letters VIN of the characteristic legend can be seen
clearly below the truncation of the bust. On the reverse, at the upper left, part of
the previous obverse legend LVD XIIII DG can be made out, as well as the sun
and the line of the back of the King's head.
The Louis d'or aux quatre L was issued in October 1693 with a value of14 livres,
but by 1701 was current for only 12 livres 10 sols. In October of the same year it was
replaced by our Louis d'or aux huit Let aux insignes, which was once again valued
at 14 livres.
As with the earlier ecus d'or, the issues of Louis d'or were more closely described
from their designs, our example after the 8 L (the King's initial letter) and the
"insignes" - the lys-sceptre and the sceptre with a hand, which acted as a symbol
of judicial authority.

PLATE 4-+
SPANISH COLONIAL EMPIRE: PERU

King PhilipV, 1701-1746

8 escudos de oro, 1717
Mint: Lima
Warden: Crist6bal Melgarejo
Obverse: + PHILIPPVS V. D. [G.] HISPANIAR
(Philippus V dei gratia Hispaniarum)
Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre with the arms of Castile and Leon
in its angles
Reverse: Ornament ET YNDIA - REX ANO 717
(Et Indiarum rex anno 1717)
L - 8 - M / P. - V. - A[.] /7 - I - [7], divided by the Pillars of Hercules
and two transverse lines; waves below
(Lima 8 Melgarejo / plus ultra /1717)
Weight: 26.95 g · </) 33.5 mm
Literature: Calic6 and Trigo 94

In a secret will, the Spanish King Charles II, who remained childless, named
Philip V, Duke of Anjou and grandson of Louis XIV, as his successor. Following
Charles II's death in 1700, this provision of his triggered the War of the Spanish
Succession, in the course of which Philip had to accept considerable territorial
losses. He was only able to maintain his rule with French help.
From 1554, after unsuccessful attempts by the conquerors of Peru to break away
from the Spanish crown, the country was ruled as a colony by a Spanish viceroy.
Although coining had already been introduced at Lima under Philip II, gold was
used as a coinage meta! only from 1696. For gold coins, eight-, four-, double and
single escudos were issued, whose standard had to conform to the prescriptions of
the Spanish mainland. Eight and a half pieces of the 8-escudo coin illustrated here
(also known as the onza or quadrupla, being the same as the quadruple pistole)
were to be produced from the Spanish mark. Its fineness was 22 carats
(= 916.6/1000).
The escudos manufactured in Peru differed greatly in design from those of the
other colonies, whose production was closely modelled on the issues of the main-
land. These bore the complicated Spanish arms on the obverse, and on the reverse
the cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre with floral ornaments in its angles.
On the Peruvian pieces the cross was placed on the obverse, and the reverse was
divided into nine fields by the Pillars of Hercules and two lines running horizon-
tally. Reading from left to right the first line includes the initial letter of the mint,
the denomination and the Warden's initial; in the second the motto "plus ultra"
(ever further) is found, reduced to three letters; the lowest section gives the year
of issue.

PLATE 45
EMPIRE OF RUSSIA

Tsar Peter 1, the Great, 1689-1725

Double rouble, 1720
Mint: Moscow
Obverse: UPb · ITETP'b · AJ1E"tIEBfll'b · B · P · CAMO,l( ·
(Tsar Peter Alexeyevich sole ruler over the whole Russian Empire)
Laureate and armed bust, right
Reverse: M HOBA UEHA ,[(BA PYBJ1H 17-20
(New coin of value two roubles 1720)
St. Andrew standing in front of a diagonal cross
Weight: 4.05 g · (/) 20.7 mm
Literature: Severin 82

In 1689 Peter I became sole and absolute ruler of the Russian Empire by deposing
his half-sister Sophia, who since 1682 had acted as Regent for him as well as
his insane half-brother Ivan V. During the reign of Peter I Russia achieved
predominance over the Baltic Sea in a war against Sweden and thus entered the
sphere of the great European powers.
Peter's extensive domestic reform work was of similarly great significance for the
future of the country. One of his most important reforming achievements was
the creation of a new and uniform decimal currency system. The main aim of this
reform was to incorporate the Russian precious-metal issues into the prevai ling
European currency systems on an equal footing. The Tsar obtained ideas during
his numerous foreign journeys. In 1698 he even visited the English mint in the
Tower of London, accompanied by his technical adviser; the director of that mint
at the time was Isaac Newton.
Peter l's gold coins were the first official currency in this metal. Their issue started
in 1701 with the production of ducats and double ducats; the double rouble was
added in 1718 as a multiple of the silver rouble. Unlike the ducats, the reverse
depicts St. Andrew, who according to legend was said to have been the first apostle
of Russia. The gold kopeks which were occasionally struck in earlier periods had
an exclusively medallic character and were distributed as military awards or were
thrown among the spectators at Imperial coronations.

PLATE 46
PORTUGUESE COLONIAL EMPIRE: BRAZIL

King John V, 1706-1750

Dobräo, 1726
Mint: Minas Geraes
Obverse: IOANNES ·V· D · G ·PORT· ET· ALG · REX
(Ioannes V dei gratia Portugaliae et Algarbiae rex)
Shield with the arms of Portugal, beneath a !arge crown; on the left,
the value 20,000, and on the right, five rosettes
Reverse: •I•IN•I•HOC •I•SIGNO •!•VINCES•I• ~1726~
Cross of the Order of Christ with four large Ms in its angles
Weight: 53.58 g · (/) 38.0 mm
Literature: Ferrara Vaz J5.03 - Meili 8

In 1500, Pedro Alvarez Cabral took possession of Brazil, which he named Terra da
vera cruz, for the Portuguese crown. At first the new territory was for Portugal
merely a welcome opportunity to get rid of disagreeable persons and those
condemned by the Inquisition. Colonisation of the country was instituted under
King John III (Plate 12). Brazil achieved its greatest significance for the Portuguese
nation towards the end of the seventeenth century. Through the discovery of gold
deposits in the province of Minas Geraes, north of Rio de Janeiro, it became for
a while the most important gold-producing country in the world.
John V ordered the erection of a mint in Minas Geraes in the statute of
19 March 1720. All of the pieces manufactured there were tobe marked with the
letter M, the model being taken from the mint in Lisbon. This letter appears four
times on the reverse, in the angles of the cross of the Order of Christ. Coining
took place in Minas Geraes from 1724, but the mint was closed again as early as
a decade later.
The dobräo illustrated here is one of the heaviest gold coins existing. lt weighs
almost twice as much as the Spanish 8-escudo piece (Plate 45). Its statutory fine-
ness was 22 carats, and its nominal weight amounted to 53.78 g. The value of this
coin, given on the obverse as 20,000 reis in Portuguese reckoning, was in fact
24,000 reis.
The visual design of the reverse goes back in its basic elements of cross and legend
to the Portugues (Plate 6). In 1722 it was abandoned in favour of a new type with
the ruler's portrait on one side and the Portuguese arms on the other.

PLATE 4 7
ELECTORATE OF BAVARIA

Elector Charles Albert, 1726-1745, from 1742 Holy Roman Emperor

Carolin, 1730
Mint: Munich
Obverse: * C · A ·V· B • & P · S · D • C · - P •R • S •R • I • A · & E · L · L ·
(Carolus Albertus utriusque Bavariae et Palatinus superioris dux,
comes palatinus Rheni sacri Romani imperii archidapifer et elector
landgravius Leuchtenbergensis)
Head, right
Reverse: CLYPEVS OMNIB 9 - IN TE SPERANTIB9 - 1730
(Clypeus omnibus in te sperantibus 1730)
The Virgin Mary seated with the infant Jesus on her lap; she grasps a sceptre
in her right hand, and with her left hand holds a shield quartered with
the arms of the Palatinate, Bavaria and in the middle the electoral arms,
which stands before her. The shield is surmounted by the electoral cap and
surrounded by the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Weight: 9.69 g · (/J 24.3 mm
Literature: Beierlein 1919

The conquest of Bavaria by the Austrian Emperor Joseph I brought Charles

Albert (later the Emperor Charles VII) and his sister into Austrian custody for
eleven years. Freed following the peace concluded at Rastatt, he journeyed
through France and Italy and in 1717 took part in fighting against the Turks.
He later derived claims to the Imperial crown from the marriage he contracted
in 1722 with Maria Amalia, daughter of the Emperor Joseph 1, and his descent
from the Emperor Ferdinand I. These were fulfilled with his election and coro-
nation in Frankfurt in 1742.
Charles Albert introduced the Karl d'or or Carolin as a new !arger gold coin
in 1726. lt came into being as a continuation of the Max d'or, created by his father
first as a single piece and from 1715 as the double, but was half as heavy again
as the latter. Since these coin types were struck at the Standard of the old Gold-
gulden, the Carolin was accordingly a triple Goldgulden (Plate 29).
On its issue, the new denomination was given an excessive value of 10 Gulden of
account or 600 Kreuzers, which did not match its real value. The Imperial coinage
meeting at Regensburg in 1738 devalued the Carolin to 8 Gulden 50 Kreuzers.
As well as the full piece, there were also half- and quarter-Carolins.
The extremely abbreviated obverse legend also names amongst the Elector's titles
that of Landgrave of Leuchtenberg. This territory came into Bavarian possession
in 1650.
The reverse legend, "a buckler to all them that trust in thee'; is taken from the
second book of Samuel. Like the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus, it also appears
earlier and frequently on the coins of Bavaria.

PLATE 4 8
KINGDOM OF PRUSSIA

King Frederick II, the Great, 1740-1786

Friedrich d'or, 1746
Mint: Breslau
Mintmaster: Adam Heinrich von Ehrenberg
Obverse: FRIDERICUS · D · G ·REX· BORUSSORUM
Bust in armour, with an ermine mantle, right
Reverse: M · B · S · R · I · A · C · ET - PR· EL · S · SIL · D ·
(Marchio Brandenburgensis sacri Romani imperii archi-camerarius et princeps
elector supremus Silesiae dux)
The Prussian eagle, crowned, above a shield with the letter W; standards,
kettledrums and a gun barrel; in the upper field the date, divided 17 - 46;
in the exergue, the ligatured signature of the mintmaster, AE
Weight: 6.66 g · (/> 24.8 mm
Literature: von Schrötter, Preussen 19

Frederick II, whom contemporaries were already calling "the Great" after only
a few years of his reign, made Prussia into a great power. During his long reign,
he extended the kingdom to include the county of Ostfriesland (inherited) and
Upper and Lower Silesia, as weil as the county of Glatz and part of the county
of Mansfeld. The geographical union of hitherto separated parts of the country
(East Prussia and the remaining central territory round the nucleus of Branden-
burg) was finally brought about in 1772 with the acquisition of West Prussia,
Ermeland and the Netzeregion.
This Friedrich d'or was produced in Breslau, as shown by the W (for Wratislawia)
on the shield beneath the eagle. The already extant mint was taken over immedi-
ately after the conquest of the country in the First Silesian War of 1740-1742,
and until 1751 the mintmaster workingthere was Adam Heinrich von Ehrenberg,
who signed himself with the letters AHE.
The prototype of the Friedrich d'or was the Louis d'or, which upon the intro-
duction of the so-called (coinage-) reformations in France in 1689 had flowed out
in abundance into the German territories. lt was soon imitated in weight, fineness
and size by many princes and called by the names of the respective local rulers.
Prussia produced this type, which had been introduced by Frederick William I in
173 7, until 1850, i. e. for over a century. As with the Louis d'or, the obverse depicts
the reigning monarch. The reverse, the Prussian eagle above trophies of war, is
political in character: it refers openly to the belligerent confrontations beginning
immediately after the start of Frederick Il's reign.
Double and half Friedrichs d'or were also struck, as weil as the single denomi-
nation.

PL AT E 4 9
CITY OF GENEVA

Pistole, 1755
Mint: Geneva
Mint Director: Jean-Louis Chouet
Die-engraver: Jean Dassier
Obverse: RESPUBL · - GENEVEN ·
(Respublica Genevensis) --..
The arms of Geneva, richly ornamented; above, the name of Jesus (IB~)
in a wreath of rays and flames
Reverse: * POST TENEBRAS LUX* J 755 --..
In a circle of rays and flames, the letters IB~
Weight: 5.63 g · </J 22.0 mm
Literature: Demole 561

Clerical rule over the city of Geneva came to an end in 1533 with Pierre de la
Baume, its last bishop. The reason for the bishop's expulsion was his attempt to
place Geneva under the rule of the Duke of Savoy. In 1535 Farel, later assisted by
Calvin, introduced the Reformation in the city, but both were soon banished
from the city on account of their severe actions. In the same year the production
of coinage was taken up in Geneva. The Council appointed as mintmaster Claude
Savoie, who until 1532 had been working in the Savoy mint of Cornavin; his first
issues were silver coins whose metal came from melted-down ecclesiastical
objects.
In 1540 the city began to mint gold coins as weil. For trade with France, ecus d'or
of that type were created; however, these were not accepted there and were
already being decried in 1544. With an eye to ltaly, the ecu d'or was abandoned in
favour of the ecu pistolet in 1562. The striking of the pistole was started in Geneva
in 1633. At the same time the ducat, with its double and quadruple, still circulated.
In due course, only the pistole out of this multiplicity of denominations was
able to establish itself, and during the 18th century it was the only gold coin issued
by the city. The instructions for its issue were set out in a Council decree of
15 August 1752: 43 Ys pieces were tobe coined from the Paris mark, and their fine-
ness was set at 22 carats; their value was 10 livres or 35 florins. The pistole was
also for a short time issued as its triple and as the pistole forte. The latter was
about 1 gram heavier than the single denomination and was only struck in 1722
and 1724, from the gold of confiscated forgeries of the French ecus d'or.
The eo ins of Geneva maintained a single design over the course of centuries, with
hardly any change: the arms of the city, the motto "after darkness, light" and the
name of Jesus appear on virtually all pieces.

PLATE 50
EMPIRE OF RUSSIA

Tsarina Elizabeth 1, 1741-1762

Imperial, 1756
Mint: St. Petersburg
Obverse: B · M· EJUICABETB · I · IMII · ICAMOL( · BCEPOC ·
(By God's grace Elizabeth I Empress and sole ruler over the whole
Russian Empire)
Crowned bust, right. The broad ribbon of the Order of St. Andrew partly
conceals a richly decorated dress. The ermine mantle, decorated with
the Russian double-headed eagle, is attached to the right shoulder by a clasp.
Below the bust, the mint-letters CII B
Reverse: IMIIPCKAH - POCCIIIC - MOH · UEHA - L(ECJIT · PYB
(Imperial Russian coin worth ten roubles)
Four coats of arms adorned with crowns, forming a cross round the triply-
crowned Russian double-headed eagle. Four roses in the angles, and in the
field between the arms the date 1756
Weight: 16.04 g · </) 32.2 mm
Literature: Severin 216 - Michai:lovitch 246 var.

Elizabeth I, daughter of Peter the Great (Plate 46) and Catherine I, was
proclaimed tsarina in 1741. She was named as successor to Peter II by her mother,
but allowed Anna lvanovna, Duchess of Courland and niece of Peter 1, to take
power on Peter II's death in 1730; not until 11 years later, after Anna's death, was
Elizabeth able to make good her claim to the throne and come to power. Unlike
her father, she completely lacked political enterprise, so that in affairs of state she
was dependent on her advisers and favourites.
During Elizabeth I's reign, the variety of gold coins increased considerably. In
addition to those already existing, five new denominations were struck for the
first time, including the Imperial of 10 roubles, whose issue was ordered by an
Imperial decree of 19 November 1755. A fraction, the half Imperial of five
roubles, was issued simultaneously. A completely new reverse design was chosen
for the Imperial. The coats of arms symbolise Moscow (top), nucleus and starting-
point of the future Russian Empire, together with the three 16th-century
tsardoms conquered by Moscow: Kazan (right), Siberia (below) and Astrakhan
(left). This historical fact is reflected in the crowning of the coats of arms: that of
Moscow bears the Imperial crown, while the other three are decorated with
simple five-pointed crowns. Despite its size and considerable value, the Imperial
was used for making payments and formed part of the general currency.

PLATE 51
UNITED NETHERLANDS, PROVINCE OF UTRECHT

Ducat, 1756
Mint: Utrecht
Mintmaster: Johan Ernst Novisadi
Die-engraver: C. van Swinderen
Obverse: CONCORDIA RES - PAR: CRES :TRA · -•
(Concordia res parvae crescunt Traiectum)
A knight standing half right; in his right hand a sword, in his left a bundle
of seven arrows; beside him the date, divided 17 - 56
Reverse: MO : ORD : / PROVIN : / FOEDER: / BELG ·AD / LEG IMP.
(Moneta ordinum provinciarum foederatarum Belgiae ad legem imperii)
A five-line inscription on a richly ornamental tablet
Weight: 3.42 g · (/> 21.5 mm
Literature: Delmonte 965 - Verkade 552

The northern Netherlands seceded from King Philip II of Spain in 1581; since
then, the seven provinces of Guelders, Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Friesland,
Overijssel and Groningen have formed the Republic of the Netherlands. Their
independence, which at the same time meant their separation from the German
Empire, was finally recognised in the Peace ofWestphalia, concluded in Münster
in 1648. The hereditary governors from the House of Orange were from 1579
responsible for the military affairs of the provinces. William III, King ofEngland
from 1689, was, incidentally, one of them (Plate 42).
In 1586, a reorganisation of the currency, which inter alia planned uniform issues
for all members, was carried out under the Governor-General Robert, Earl of
Leicester, who had been sent to the Netherlands by ~een Elizabeth I of
England. The prototype for the gold coinage was the ducat of the German
Empire, whose prescribed standards of weight and fineness were followed. The
reverse legend refers specifically to this.
In its design the obverse has its origin in the Hungarian type depicting the
standing saint Ladislaus. The seven arrows in the knight's hand represent the
provinces, whose unity is underlined by the band which encircles them. The
legend "unity produces strength" complements the pictorial depiction in words.
The name of the province in which the ducat was produced appears abbreviated
at the end of the obverse legend, on our example in the Latin form Traiectum,
for Utrecht. The mintmark of the arms of Utrecht also points to its origin.
The ducat, and a double ducat of the same type, were struck virtually unaltered
until 1808. In the 17th and 18th centuries the ducat was successful above all as a
trade coin in eastern Europe and was frequently imitated there (Plate 60).
The edge-marking which was prescribed from 1749, intended to frustrate
clipping, is hardly visible on our example.

PLATE 52
CITY OF ZURICH

Ducat, 1756
Mint: Zurich
Mintmaster: Hans Jakob Gessner
Obverse: DUCATUS REIPUBLIC/E TIGURINAE:
Rampant lion with a sword and the arms of Zurich, left
Reverse: DOMINE / CONSERVA / Nos· IN / PACE / 1756
A five-line inscription in a wreath of tendrils and ornaments
Weight: 3.45 g · <j) 22.1 mm
Literature: Hürlimann 237

As well as the immediacy achieved in 1218, the grant of the mint right was another
important requirement for the development and prosperity of Zurich. This
privilege brought to an end its dependence on the powerful Fraumünster Abbey.
The abbey held the mint right from the middle of the 11th century and the city
was forced to lease it until 1425. During the course of the 15th century Zurich,
which was favourably placed for communications, occupied a leading place in the
Confederation, which it had already joined in 1351. With Zwingli's appointment
at the Grossmünster, the city became the starting-point for the Reformation in
Switzerland.
The right to strike gold coinage was awarded by the Emperor Charles V in 1521.
The Goldgulden which were initially struck were later followed by gold crowns
and ducats. These last, together with their half- and quarter-values, served for
normal transactions. Multiple ducats up to fifteen ducats weight were struck
using the dies of the !arger silver denominations; they were used almost exclu-
sively for gifts and for external payments. The design of the ducat illustrated here
was introduced in 1707 and remained unaltered for 60 years. The last word of
the obverse legend comes from the Celtic tribe of the Tigurini, whose area of
settlement had been in the west of Switzerland. Following a decree of the Zurich
Council in 1673, 68 ducats with a fineness of23 carats 5 grains were tobe Struck to
the mark. An analysis of our piece showed that with a fineness of 23 carats 4 grains
it corresponds almost exactly to this prescription. lt was further ordered in 1750
that ducats should only be struck with decorated edges.
The mintmasters working for the city of Zurich from 1677 to 1773 were Hans
Jakob Gessner andin succession his son and grandson of the same name. The
reverse die of our coin was used in an earlier year: the original date "3" is still
clearly visible beneath the altered figure "6" .

PLATE 53
P'

SPANISH COLONIAL EMPIRE: COLOMBIA

King Ferdinand VI, 1746-1759

8 escudos de oro, 1758
Mint: Santa Fe de Bogota
Warden: Jose Prieto Salazar
Obverse: FERDND xVIxD xG xHISPAN xET IND xREX @1758 '111
(Ferdinandus VI dei gratia Hispaniarum et Indiarum rex 1758)
Bust, right
Reverse: NOMINA MAGNA SEQUOR @/@ N·R©- @J
Beneath a large crown and surrounded by the collar of the Order of the
Golden Fleece, a shield with the arms of Castile/ Leon, Aragon/ Sicily, Austria,
New Burgundy, Old Burgundy/ Flanders, Tyrol/Brabant, charged with
the shield of New-Anjou
Weight: 27.03 g · </) 37.6 mm
Literature: Calic6 and Triga 56

Spain's American possessions were initially divided into two viceroyalties:

New Spain (Mexico) in the north and New Castile (Peru) in the south. In 1717
two new viceroyalties were created: La Plata and New Granada, with Santa Fe
de Bogota as capital.
Following the transfer of the mint of Cartagena to Santa Fe de Bogota, coinage
was started there in 1623, at first restricted to silver and small coins in base metal.
The first gold coin, a double escudo de oro, was produced in 1627. As in Peru
(Plate 45), Colombia too had to conform to the issues from the Spanish main-
land, so the same regulations applied to the piece shown here as to that struck
in Peru.
The escudos which Ferdinand VI first had struck in Santa Fe de Bogota still had
the design laid down in 1537 (Plate 8). Two innovations were introduced in 1756:
firstly the cross on the obverse was replaced by the ruler's portrait, and secondly
the coins received a decorated edge. The name of the country appears in the
reverse legend as the highly abbreviated NR, standing for Nuevo Reino de
Granada. To the right of this, the Warden responsible signed, using the initial
letter of his first name.

PLATE 5~
MALTA
under the Knights of St.John

Grandmaster Fra Emmanuel Pinto de Fonseca, 1741-1773

10 scudi, 1762
Mint: Valetta
Obverse: F · EMMANVEL PINTO M · M · H · S · S · 1762
(Fra Emmanuel Pinto magnus magister hospitalis Sancti Sepulcri 1762)
Below a royal crown, a shield quartered with the arms of the Order and the
Grandmaster, framed at the sides by branches
Reverse: NON - SVRREXIT · MAIOR
St.John the Baptist with the banner of the Order in his right hand; he points
with his left hand to the Paschal lamb, which stands at his feet looking up
at him; in the exergue, S · X
Weight: 7.66 g · </J 23.5 mm
Literature: Schembri p.155, 5 - Restelli and Sammut p.162, 45

The Order of St. John, founded originally for nursing in Jerusalem in 1070,
received the island of Malta from the Emperor Charles V in 1530 with orders
to safeguard the western Mediterranean against the Turks. The climax of this
fighting confrontation was the so-called "Great Siege" in the summer of 1565 by
the armed forces of Sulayman I (Plate 69). The Knights of St.John, later known as
the Knights of Malta, remained in possession of Malta until Napoleon occupied
the island in 1798.
At first the Order struck gold zecchini and their multiples in Malta. The Grand-
master Fra Emmanuel Pinto, who came from Portugal, eventually introduced
another coin-type known as the doppia nuova or new pistole of ten scudi,
together with the half- and double-denomination (i. e. five and twenty scudi
respectively); the relevant value is indicated in the exergue. The zecchini, which
Pinto continued to issue, bare his portrait, together with the combined arms of
the Order and the Grandmaster (five crescent moons arranged as a diagonal cross)
on the reverse. On the new coin type the coat of arms was transferred to the
obverse, whose inscription refers to the origin of the Order and its first nickname,
the Hospitallers. The reverse introduced by Pinto is dominated by St. John the
Baptist, the order's patron saint, bears the legend "none greater than him" and at
the same time emphasises the significance of the Knights of St.John. This Grand-
master's idea of bis office is conspicuous in the royal crown on the obverse, which
replaces the hitherto usual ducal crown.

PLATE 55
PRINCE-BISHOPRIC OF HILDESHEIM

Prince-bishop Frederick William of Westphalia, 1763-1789

1
/z pistole, 1763
Mint : Hildesheim
Die-engraver: W Dowig (Dobicht)
Obverse: FRID: WILH: D: G: EPISC: HILDES : S : R: I: PRINC:
(Fridericus Wilhelmus dei gratia episcopus Hildesiensis sacri Romani
imperii princeps)
Quartered coat of arms decorated with laure! and palm branches,
beneath a princely crown andin front of an outspread prince's mantle;
behind this, crossed sword and bishop's crozier
Reverse: ! / PISTOLE / 1763
Three-line inscription in a cartouche decorated with flowers and branches
Weight: 3.32 g · </J 20.4 mm
Literature: Cappe 323 - Bahrfeldt, Hildesheim 2

The Bishopric of Hildesheim, founded in the early ninth century by Louis the
Pious, extended north-west from the Harz between the rivers Leine and Oker.
Over the centuries there were repeated confrontations with the dukes of Bruns-
wick-Lüneburg (whose territory surrounded the bishopric), as a result of which
Hildesheim had to relinquish major parts of its lands.
In 17 63, after a vacancy of two years, Frederick William ofWestphalia was elected
as the new bishop by the circle of 32 canons.
The half pistole shown here matched in its design those produced in the same
year by the Cathedral Chapter, which also possessed minting rights during
a vacancy. The neutral reverse die, with statements of the value and the date, was
apparently reused for the coinage of Bishop Frederick William, which was intro-
duced immediately after his election. The obverse die had tobe freshly engraved
and the new ruler of the mint may be recognised by the legend and the West-
phalian family arms additionally placed in the second and third quarters.
The single and double pistoles which were produced in the succeeding three years
have the arms on the reverse, and depict a profile portrait of Bishop Frederick
William on the obverse. On these denominations the value was no langer given
in pistoles but in Talers. The half pistole of 2 1/z Talers was struck only in 1763.
According to a Hildesheim regulation of 17 64, the pistole should be struck with
a fineness of 21 2/J carats (= ca. 903 / 1000) and 35 pieces were tobe struck from the
Cologne mark. This results in a nominal weight of 3.34 g for the half pistole.
The name "pistole'; given to the Spanish double escudo, can to this day still not
be satisfactorily explained (Plate 8). This name was frequently used, above all in
north Germany, for gold coins struck to its standards.

PLATE 5 6
UNITED NETHERLANDS, PROVINCE OF HOLLAND

Rijder, 1763
Mint: Dordrecht
Mintmaster: Wouter Buck
Die-engraver: Johan Drappentier jr.
Obverse: * MO: AUR: PRO: CONFCED: - BELG: HOLLAND :
(Moneta aurea pro confoederatione Belgica Hollandia)
An armoured mounted knight, brandishing a sword, galloping right;
below the horse, the crowned arms of the province of Holland
Reverse: CONCORDIA ·RES· PARVJE · CRESCUNT ·
Beneath a large crown, the arms of the United Provinces;
at the sides the value 14 - G1 and above the crown, 17 - 63
Weight : 9.94 g · </J 26.7 mm
Literature: Delmonte 782 - Verkade 226, pl. 40,4

Holland was the most important of the seven provinces of the northern N ether-
lands. Its economic focus was the city of Amsterdam (also known as the Venice of
the North), built on piles and traversed by canals. In 1622 it already numbered
100,000 inhabitants. Amsterdam made thriving progress, principally in the
17th century, through world trade, and grew tobe the pre-eminent trade metrop-
olis of Europe. The Dutch East India and West India trading companies both had
their headquarters here.
The rijder, which owed its name to its obverse design, was added to the ducat in
1606 as a second, !arger gold denomination. In its standard it was modelled on the
unite which had been introduced a few years previously by the English King
James I (cf. Plate 36). Between 1640 and 1650 its production was halted, but
100 years later the provinces again took up its issue, as shown by our example of
1763. This saw to it that the worn and clipped Netherlands ducats which were
flowing back into the country were withdrawn from circulation. These light-
weight ducats were recoined into the debased (c. 22 carats) rijder and its half.
Unlike the ducats, the rijder and likewise the half-rijder had a fixed price, which
for the pieces produced between 1748 and 1765 was established at 14 and 7 Gulden
respectively. The name and, below the horseman, the arms of the issuing province
appear on the obverse, and on the reverse the Union shield (the joint arms of the
States-General) with the motto familiar from the ducats (Plate 52).

PLATE 5 7
EMPIRE OF RUSSIA

Tsarina Catherine II, the Great, 1762-1796

Ducat, 1766
Mint: St. Petersburg
Die-engraver: Timothei Ivanov
Obverse: B · M· EKATEPHHA ·IT· IMITEPATPHUA ·
(By God's grace Catherine II Empress)
Crowned bust, right. The richly decorated dress is partly obscured by the
broad ribbon of the Order of St. Andrew. The Imperial mantle lies on the
right shoulder and on its sleeve can be seen the initials of the engraver.
Below the bust, the mint-letters C IT B
Reverse: I CAMOLJ:EPJK · BCEPOCHCKAH · 1766 ·
(and sole ruler over the whole Russian Empire 1766)
A triply-crowned double-headed eagle, holding in its talons a sceptre and an
imperial orb. On its breast it bears the arms of Moscow surrounded by the
collar of the Order of St. Andrew
Weight: 3.50 g · (/> 21.3 mm
Literature: Severin 273 - Michai:lovitch 85.

Following the deposition and murder of the Tsar Peter III, who fell victim to a plot
led by his wife Catherine II, the latter was crowned the new empress in Moscow in
17 62. From the very start, this monarch devoted herself intensively to the affairs
of state. Russia was able greatly to expand her area of power through two success-
ful wars against the Turks, the three partitions of Poland which took place during
her reign and the annexation of Courland. For all these external successes, the
tsarina by no means forgot the internal administration of her empire. Catherine
founded new cities, promoted trade and advocated legislative reform. At the
same time she tried to get rid of existing abuses in the administration.
While the gold coinage of Elizabeth I (Plate 51) was notable for its particular
diversity, that of Catherine may be described as rather modest. Only Imperials,
half-Imperials and ducats were issued. In a few cases gold roubles and their half
and double-denominations were minted by special order of the empress, but
these were destined more for use at court than for general circulation. Ducats were
during Catherine II's reign struck only in the years 1763, 1766 and 1796. On the
occasion of the first issue the tsarina's Ukase of 16 February 1763 decreed as
follows: the coins should bear her portrait on the obverse and on the reverse her
arms (i. e. the state arms) and should match the Dutch ducats in weight and
fineness. In line with this decree, 118 pieces of fineness c. 980/ 1000 and a weight
of c. 3.50 g were struck to the Russian pound.

PLATE 58
HABSBURG LANDS

Empress Maria Theresia, 1740-1780

Ducat, 1766
Mint: Vienna
Mintmaster: Johann Augustin Cronberg
Warden: Sigismund Anton Klemmer von Klemmersberg
Obverse: M·THERES·D: G·R· - IMP·HU ·BO·REG·
(Maria Theresia dei gratia Romanorum imperatrix Hungariae Bohemiae regina)
Crowned veiled bust, right
Reverse: ARCHID·AUST·DUX· - BURG·COM·TYR·1766·
(Archidux Austriae dux Burgundiae comes Tyrolis 1766)
Crowned double-headed eagle, with the crowned Austrian arms on its breast;
above its talons the initials C. - K. of the mintmaster and warden
Weight: 3.49 g · (/) 21.8 mm
Literature : Eypeltauer 184

In accordance with the succession laid down by the Emperor Charles VI in the
Pragmatic Sanction, his daughter Maria Theresia took over the government
in 1740, after his death. This arrangement set off the War of the Austrian Suc-
cession, which lasted until 1748, in the course of which Maria Theresia was never-
theless able to prevent a threatened partition of her empire. Beloved of her sub-
jects, this monarch mied for forty years an empire whose lands stretched
for a while from the Austrian Netherlands to Transylvania and from Silesia
to Parma. In the way this contemporary and opponent of Frederick the Great
mied her heterogeneous state she demonstrated the same skill as the Empress
Catherine II of Russia (Plate 58).
In the empire, there existed several currency systems, corresponding to the
nationalities united under the Habsburg crown. The gold coins struck were the
ducat, the souverain d'or for the Austrian Netherlands (Plate 63) and the doppia
and zecchino for the Italian possessions. In the original Habsburg lands the ducat
was the principal gold coin; there existed fractional values down to Vs-ducat and
multiples up to a weight of twelve ducats. The latter were struck using Taler and
half-Taler dies, principally for use as gifts._ At the beginning of Maria Theresia's
reign the nominal weight of the ducat stood at 3.49 g and its fineness was
986 / 1000; it met almost exactly the provisions of the Imperial Coinage Decree
of 1559, and these were also complied with during the following period.
Our coin, which was produced after the death ofher husband in 1765, shows the
monarch with a widow's veil. Those lands in which Maria Theresia herself was
regent are named in the obverse and reverse legends. The shield on the breast of
the double-headed eagle indicates the mint. Thus the piece illustrated here, with
the Austrian barred shield, was made in Vienna; other mints (for example Graz,
Hall and Prague) may be recognised by their respective state coats of arms.

PLATE 59
KINGDOM OF POLAND

King Stanislaus Augustus, 1764-1795

Ducat, 1770
Mint: Warsaw
Mintmaster: Jost Schröder
Obverse: STANISLAUS AUG. - D. G. REX POL. M. D. L.
(Stanislaus Augustus dei gratia rex Poloniae magnus dux Lithuaniae)
The king, dressed in Spanish style and wearing an ermine mantle, standing
to the right, holding the Imperial insignia; to either side, the divided
date 17- 70
Reverse: MONETA I AUREA / POLONI. / AD LEG. / IMPER.
(Moneta aurea Poloniae ad legem imperii)
A five-line inscription on a richly decorated tablet; below, the mintmaster's
signature I. S.
Weight: 3.46 g · </> 21.9 mm
Literature: Hutten-Czapski 3118

At the instigation of Catherine the Great (Plate 58), her favourite Stanislaus
Augustus Poniatowski was elected King of Poland and crowned in Warsaw on
25 November 1764. By this Russia exercised virtually uncontrolled power over
the country and was already considering Poland a future part of her empire.
Revolts directed against Russian rule and supported by other European powers
were crushed by the troops of the Tsardom. The three partitions of Poland
which took place during Stanislaus Augustus's reign spelt the end of the kingdom
of Poland. Stanislaus Augustus, the last Polish king, had to abdicate on
25 November 1795, following Catherine the Great's enforcement of the ratifica-
tion of the third and final partition treaty.
As regards the coinage, the king carried out an extensive reform as early as the year
following his accession to the throne, with the aim of suppressing the foreign
coin-types which inundated the country. The new Polish coins were struck
according to the Imperial standard adopted from 1760 in most southern and
western German territories. The gold coinage was restricted to the issue of ducats;
only at the end of bis reign did the king allow the issue of a new type, the single
and double Stanislaus d'or, in 1794. The ducats had the same weight and fineness
as the Dutch ones and to some extent also took over the design of their prototype
in a slightly modified form (Plate 52). Thus, while the design was retained on the
piece illustrated, the depiction of the knight on the obverse was replaced by the
figure of the king; on the reverse merely the part of the inscription naming the
country of issue was altered.

PLATE 60
ELECTORATE OF SAXONY

Elector Frederick August III, 1763-1827, King from 1806

Double August d'or, 1777
Mint: Dresden
Mintmaster: Ernst Dietrich Croll
Obverse: FRID: AUGUST: D: G: - DUX SAX: ELECTOR
(Fridericus Augustus dei gratia dux Saxoniae elector)
Bust right in armour and mantle, wearing the ribbon of the Order of the Golden
Fleece
Reverse: Beneath the electoral cap, two oval shields, surrounded by wreaths
of leaves, with the electoral and ducal arms; between these the mintmaster's
initials E.D.C.; in the exergue in two lines 10.THALER / 1777
Weight: 13.30 g · (/; 27.7 mm
Literature: Buck 145 a

Following the early death of his father, Frederick August II, administration of the
Electorate of Saxony was first conducted on behalf of his under-age son by his
uncle, Prince Xavier; Frederick August III then took over the reins of government
in 1769, at the age of 19. In work which took decades, he endeavoured to help
to new prosperity a country which had been occupied by Prussia, ruined and
economically bled to death during the Seven Years War from 1756 to 1763.
In external politics, Frederick August III first followed Prussia, and later
Napoleon.
Following the example of other German coining states, Frederick August III
introduced a gold coin, based on the standard of the French Louis d'or, which was
called the August d'or. The official proclamation, published in Dresden on
13 August 1772, prescribed a fineness of21 2h carats (= c. 902 / 1000) and 35 pieces to
be struck from the Cologne mark of233.856 g. As well as the single piece, a double
August d'or was also issued; both values appeared for the first time in 1777 and
were struck for decades in large amounts as trading gold. The value placed in the
lower part of the reverse is the value in Talers of account of 24 Groschen.10 Talers
of account (240 Groschen) corresponded in issued coins to ?1/2Talers, reckoned at
32 Groschen (i. e. 240 Groschen as well). Just as with the banknotes introduced in
1772, which were also current as Talers of account (the first state paper money in
Germany), acceptance of the August d'or was not universal.
Our double August d'or shows on its obverse a youthful bust of the Elector with
a long-haired curly wig, in keeping with contemporary fashion. The reverse
illustrates both of the coats of arms of Saxony, on the left the electoral shield,
with crossed swords, and on the right the ducal shield.

PLATE 61
PORTUGUESE COLONIAL EMPIRE: BRAZIL

Qieen Maria I and King Peter III, 1777-1785

V2 dobra, 1785
Mint: Rio de Janeiro
Die-engraver: Joseph Gaspard
Obverse: MARIA· I ·ET· PETRUS· III· D · G ·PORT· ET· ALG ·REGES· /
1785 ·
(Maria I et Petrus III dei gratia Portugaliae et Algarbiae reges 1785)
Double portrait, right; below, the mint-letter R
Reverse: Crowned Portuguese arms in a decorated cartouche
Weight: 14.30 g · (/; 32.4 mm
Literature: Ferrara Vaz M 1.56 - Meili 1

In 1777 Maria I succeeded her father Joseph I on the Portuguese throne. She
named as joint regent her uncle Peter, to whom she had been married since 1760,
and bestowed upon him the title ofking. After her husband's death in 1785, Maria
reigned alone until 1799. In that year she transferred the regency to her son (later
King John VI), who exercised it until his mother's death in 1816.
The specification for the new design of the half dobra, which from then on was to
bear the double portrait of the two sovereigns, was published in the decree of
28 July 1777. At the same time the mint of Lisbon was instructed to prepare
patterns in tin, which were also tobe mandatory for the mints of Rio de Janeiro
and Bahia. As for all gold coins struck in Brazil, the prescribed fineness for the
meia dobra was 22 carats. Its nominal weight was 14.34 g and its value was set at
6,400 reis.
Established in 1698, the Rio de Janeiro mint first struck gold coins following
Portuguese prototypes in 1703. The decrees from the Portuguese mainland con-
cerning the coinage only reached the colonies after a considerable delay. For
example, the orders of the reform of 1722 were not carried out in Rio de Janeiro
until 1727. This applies similarly to the piece illustrated here: the Lisbon mint dis-
continued the striking of the type immediately after the death of Peter III in 1785,
but Rio de Janeiro and Bahia were still striking it in 1786. However, the change-
over to the new issue, depicting Maria alone and with a widow's veil, took place in
both Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon in 1786, once the Qieen had given her consent to
the new coinage on 8 November of that year.

PLATE 62
AUSTRIAN NETHERLANDS

Emperor Joseph II, 1780-1790

Double souverain d'or, 1788
Mint: Brussels
Obverse: IOSEPH ·II· D G · R · IMP S · A ·GER· HIER· HUNG · BOH · REX
Goseph II dei gratia Romanorum imperator semper augustus Germaniae
Hierosolymae Hungariae Bohemiae rex)
Laureate head, right
Reverse: ARCH · AUST ·DUX· BURG· - LOTH · BRAB · COM ·FLAN·
(Archidux Austriae dux Burgundiae Lotharingiae Brabantiae comes Flandriae)
On a St. Andrew's cross, a crowned shield bearing the arms of Austria/
Lorraine and Burgundy; surrounded by the collar of the Order of the
Golden Fleece; below, between the date 17 - 88, the mint-symbol, a small head
Weight: 11.09 g · (/J 27.8 mm
Literature: de Witte 1148

By the Peace of Rastatt, which in 1714 finally settled the War of the Spanish
Succession, Austria received the Spanish territories allocated to her the
previous year in Utrecht. Apart from Naples-Sicily and Milan, these also in-
cluded the southern Netherlands, i.e. roughly the present-day Belgium and
Luxembourg.
Joseph II, eldest son of and from 1765 to 1780 joint regent with the Empress
Maria Theresia, carried out numerous reforms, among them the abolition of
serfdom. The measures envisaged for the Netherlands triggered a revolt there in
1789 (cf. Plate 65).
Under Joseph II, the double souverain was still struck with the same weight and
fineness as under Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabella; even the
reorganisation of the monetary system under Maria Theresia from 1749 to 1755
left this gold denomination (as well as its half) untouched. Only its value had
increased, from the original 240 stuivers (sols) to 372 sols 9 deniers in 1786.
The legend of the obverse, which is continued on the reverse, gives the name and
titles of Joseph II, among them even that of King of Jerusalem. The arms of
Lorraine (or, on a bend gules, three larks argent) go back to the Emperor's father,
Francis Stephen, who belonged to this family.
The only Netherlands mint still operating under Joseph II was Brussels, whose
mark of an angel's head appears on the reverse under the shield.
Apart from Brussels and Vienna, souverains were also struck at Milan from 1786;
here they were called sovranos.

PLATE 63
CITY OF SOLOTHURN

1
duplone, 1789
/4
Mint: Solothurn
Mint Director: Franz Xaver Zeltner
Obverse: RESPUBLICA SOLODORENSIS
Crowned and decorated coat of arms
Reverse: S · URSUS - MART · 1789 ·
(Sanctus Ursus Martyr 1789)
St. Ursus in full armour, standing facing with a banner
Weight: 1.90 g · <jJ 17.1 mm
Literature: Divo and Tobler 675

Solothurn resumed the issue of coinage in 1759, after a gap of over a century, but it
ended again relatively soon in 1798, with the occupation of the city by French
troops and its subsequent incorporation into the Helvetian Republic.
An attempt to supplant foreign coins by the issue of gold Kreuzers and half-
Kreuzers as well as by ducats was not noticeably successful. Success was had
only in 1787, with the introduction of the duplone and its double-, half- and
quarter-values. The name of the new coin refers to its origin: the dublone (the
double Spanish escudo de oro) was one of the principal European gold coins,
under the name "pistole". The Solothurn duplone were struck from melted-down
old French Louis d'ors, which were plentifully available. The coinage standard
was taken from that of the new Louis d'or, which according to the decree of
30.10.1785 was to be issued with a standard weight of 7.65 g at 22 carats fine;
counting all four denominations, a total of 8,061 examples were struck at Solo-
thurn between 1787 and 1798. By a Council decree, the new duplone had to bear
the arms on one side, and the city's patron saint Ursus on the other. According to
legend he belonged to the Roman Theban legion and was apparently executed for
his Christian faith in Solothurn around A. D. 302.
The efficient mint of Solothurn was held in high esteem in the Confederation
during the eighteenth century. lt also produced coinage for other places from
time to time. Apprentices were also trained and even the mintmasters of other
cities perfected their knowledge here.

PLATE 64
UNITED BELGIAN PROVINCES

Lion d'or, 1790

Mint: Brussels
Die-engraver: Theodor van Berckel
Obverse: DOMINI EST REGNVM ·
A rampant lion, holding a sword and leaning on a shield bearing the word
LI / BER / TAS; below, 1790 ·
Reverse: ET IPSE DOMINABITVR GENTIVM mintmark a small head
The arms of the eleven provinces in a circle around a sun
Weight: 8.29 g · </> 28.0 mm
Literature: de Witte 1155 - Delmonte 221

The Emperor Joseph II's reforms, which inter alia provided for a centrally-
administered empire with German as the sole official language, and curtailed the
privileges of the individual countries, led iu the Austrian Netherlands in 1789 to
the so-called Brabans:on Revolution. The eleven provinces of Brabant, Hainault,
Guelders, Luxembourg, East Flanders, West Flanders, Limburg, Namur, Tournai,
Tournaisis and Mecheln declared themselves independent. However, their
freedom did not last long: the subsequent Emperor, Leopold II, was able to
reincorporate this area into his empire by the end of 1790.
On 27 May 1790 the new republic decided on its own coinage series, which
comprised eight denominations in gold, silver and copper. The gold issue was the
lion, which showed on its obverse the eponymous lion as a joint coat of arms of
the participants. According to surviving figures, 3,805 pieces were struck.
Unlike the northern provinces, each of which possessed its own mint and the
origin of whose typologically uniform issues could be recognised, the eleven
Belgian members produced a coinage which was uniform, even in details, for each
denomination. The sole mint was Brussels, as shown by the "small head" mark on
all issues. Theodor van Berckel, who engraved the dies for all of the coins issued
by the United Belgian Provinces in 1790, worked here from 1776. He received
1200 florins (Gulden) for his work.
The coats of arms of the respective members are combined on the reverses of the
lion d'or and the lion d'argent, the highest silver denomination. The obverse
legend, which is continued on the reverse, reads in translation: the Kingdom is
God's and he will be Lord over the people.
The lion d'or had a fineness of 22 carats % grain and was valued at 14 florins.

PLATE 65
KINGDOM OF DENMARK

King Christian VII, 1766-1808

Ducat, 1791
Mint: Copenhagen
Die-engraver: Johan Ephraim Bauert
Obverse: MONETA · AUREA · DANICA ·
Wild man standing half left, leaning on a club and a shield with the Danish
coat of arms; beside him, the date divided 17-91. In front of his right foot,
the die-engraver's initial B
Reverse: l · SPECIES / DUCAT / 23 · i · K · ARAT / 67 · STYKKER /
1 ·MARK· BRUTO
A five-line inscription on a richly ornamental tablet
Weight: 3.48 g · <j) 21.8 mm
Literature: Hede 2

Signs of insanity became apparent in Christian VII immediately after his acces-
sion to the throne in 1766 and soon rendered him incapable oflooking after the
affairs of state. After his divorce from his wife, who was convicted of adultery
with his personal physician Struensee and banished to Celle in Lower Saxony, his
stepmother and stepbrother governed from 1772. In 1784 Christian's son, later
King Frederick VI, seized power.
The coinage was produced by order of the respective regents, but without this
appearing on the coins. Most examples bear the portrait or monogram of the
King. On the other hand, some give no hint whatever of the issuing ruler, for
instance the ducat illustrated here, which can only be attributed to Christian VII
on the basis of its date. It belongs to the series known as species-ducats.
The lighter and less fine courant-ducats were also in circulation. The species-
ducat, which weighed 3.49 g with a fineness of 23 1/z carats, was valued at
14% marks, while the courant-ducat of 3.llg and 21 carats was worth only
12 marks. The type represented here was issued four times during the period
1791-1802, with a total output of 16,915 pieces.
The obverse design was taken in slightly altered form from the Albertsdaler,
which had been produced for the Baltic trade since 1781. The reverse, which is
shared with that of the N etherlands ducat (Plate 52), is remarkable: in a departure
from the prototype, the value, fineness and standard weight of the coin are to
be found. 6 7 of these eo ins were to be struck from a mark (by which the Cologne
mark of 233 .856 g is meant), on which basis the theoretical weight amounts to
3.49 g. A decorated edge ensured that the weight could not be unlawfully reduced
by clipping or filing.

PLATE 66
REPUBLIC OF FRANCE

24 livres, 1793
Mint: Paris
Mint Director: Alexandre Louis Roettiers de Montaleau
Die-engravers: Augustin Dupre und Frarn;:ois Bernier
Obverse: • REPUBLIQUE FRANC::OISE · / · L AN II·, with the marks of
the engraver (a lyre) and the Mint Director (a Leopard) between.
In an oaken wreath 24 / LIVRES · / - - / A
Reverse: REGNE DE LA LOI ·, below 1793 ·
The winged genius of France, using the sceptre of reason, writes the ward
CONSTI / TUTION on a tablet standing on an altar; to the right a cockerel,
to the left a lictor's bundle with a Phrygian cap; on the base of the altar, DUPRE
Weight: 7.65 g · (/) 23.8 mm
Literature : Mazard 250

The French Revolution entered a new phase when in August 1792 the mobs from
the Paris suburbs stormed the harne of the royal family, the palace of the Tuileries,
on the right bank of the Seine. Two months later the National Convention
abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the (First) Republic. Louis XVI was tried
and condemned to death and guillotined at the beginning of 1793.
On 5 March 1793 the National Convention ordered a new type of coinage, in
which only the design of the obverse side was changed. The legend names the new
form of government in the vernacular and instead of the king's portrait bears
a statement of its value (for the first time on a gold coin), expressed in units of
livre. The value and coinage standard were taken over from the Louis d'or. The
reverse, which in design symbolises the new era, also originated from its last issue,
known as the Louis constitutionnel. The cockerel guards freedom, and the lictor's
bundle stands for unity and armed might. This design is the work of the Engraver-
General Augustin Dupre, appointed by the General Assembly in 1791.
The coin is dated on both sides, on one according to the Christian era and on the
other using the republican calendar introduced in 1793, which began with Year 1
on 22 September 1792. This issue was thus produced in the second year of the
Republic.
By the end of the century only 17 of the former 32 mints in the French Kingdom
were still working. The 24-livre coin is the last issue of the old coinage system. In
1795 decimal division was introduced with a new currency-unit, the franc, divided
into 10 decimes, each of 10 centimes. The name franc (i. e. free) had already been
used as a coin denomination in the 14th century (Val. II, Plate 31).

PLATE 67
GRAND DUCHY OF BADEN

Grand Duke Charles Frederick, 1738-1811, sole ruler from 1746

Ducat, 1807
Mint: Mannheim
Die-engraver: Heinrich Boltschauer
Obverse: CARL FRIEDRICH GROSHERZOG VON BADEN
Head, right; below, the die-engraver's initial B
Reverse: AUS RHEIN SAND / 22 Y2 KAR· / 1807
The river-god Rhenus with an um (source), oar and the arms of Baden,
reclining in front of a mountainous landscape
Weight: 3.66 g · </; 21.5 mm
Literature: Kirchheimer 24

During his 73-year reign, Charles Frederick succeeded in considerably enlarging

the original area of the Margraviate of Baden, and leading the territory to its
greatest prosperity. This expansion was based on the one hand on claims of
succession, and on the other on the compensation awarded to him by the Princi-
pal Resolution of the Imperial Deputation in 1803 for lands on the left bank of
the Rhine ceded to France. Elevation to the rank of Elector took place at the same
time. Charles Frederick took the title of Grand Duke on the signature of the Act
for the Confederation of the Rhine on 12 July 1806.
The ducat illustrated here is this ruler's only gold coin as Grand Duke. Charles
Frederick authorised its issue on 24 February 1807. Before this, some alterations
in the design of the coin were carried out: details of fineness and year of issue,
originally not given, were added, and the planned Latin legends were replaced by
German ones, in order thereby to gain greater acceptance for the national
language.
lt may be inferred from the reverse legend that the metal for the manufacture of
this piece was obtained by washing from the sands of the Rhine. The coins were
therefore called river-gold or Rhine-gold ducats. In all, 1,022 coins were struck in
June 1807 from about 3.78 kg of available gold. The raw gold won from the Rhine
did not undergo any further working. Since the natural fineness of 22 V2 carats
declared on the reverse lay below the level prescribed for the ducat (23 2h carats),
the coins had to be issued heavier, in order to achieve the fine gold content of
3.44 g required by statute.
Coining took place in Mannheim, the former mint of the Elector Palatine, which
passed into the possession of Baden in 1802.

PLATE 68
OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Sultan Sulayman I, 926-974 Hijra (AD 1520-1566)

Altm, n. d.
Mint: Constantinople
Obverse: _,.,..JI., .,..JI .} ;aJi., _;JI ~\..,.:, ~ \ -.,.,Jw,
(Striker of gold, Lord of power and victory on land and sea)
Script in several lines; beside the lowest, heart-shaped ornaments, right and left
Reverse: O. Ti ~ ~ _) -.,.,~ o_,...aj r Jt.,;. ~ .1. JL.,J...., 0\h.l..
(Sultan Sulayman, son of Selim Khan, may his victory be glorious,
struck in Constantinople 926)
Script in several lines
Weight: 3.46 g · </> 21.3 mm
Literature: BMC, Coins of the Turks 172 - Pere 175

Sulayman was one of the most important sultans of the Ottoman Empire. His
usual nickname in Europe, "the Magnificent'; refers to his love of splendour,
which also manifests itself in the numerous buildings (palaces, mosques,
Koranic schools) erected by the famous court architect Sinan.
Pursuing his predecessor's politics of conquest, Sulayman enlarged the empire
by adding to it the island of Rhodes and parts of the north African coast, as well
as Hungary in the north. In 1529 Turkish troops first stood at the gates ofVienna.
The Turks failed to take the island ofMalta from the Knights of St.John, despite
the great military strength of the Ottoman fleet, which controlled the eastern
Mediterranean (Plate 55).
The inscriptions, formulated in Arabic, and the heart-shaped ornaments in the
remaining free space fill up the surface of this coin right to the edge. Individual
langer parts of the interlocking letters project into the lines above. The resulting
unclear, rough and not particularly artistic lettering suggests a poorly-trained die-
engraver. lt does not correspond to the calligraphy, which had by then reached its
full flowering, nor does it reflect the strength and brilliance which the empire had
meanwhile achieved.
The inscriptions still have the same wording as on the first Altms, issued under
Mehmed II in the second half of the fifteenth century (their name stands for
gold). The date 926 refers to the year of accession to the throne and says nothing
about the date of issue. The appropriate regnal year, from which the date of issue
may be inferred, was not additionally stated until the middle of the eighteenth
century.
Apart from Constantinople, where our coin was manufactured, further mints
in which gold was struck were active under Sulayman 1, for example Damascus
and Aleppo.

PLATE 69
OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Sultan Ahmed III, 1115-1143 Hijra (AD 1703-1730)

Zer-i Istanbul, n. d.
Mint : Islämböl (Istanbul)
Obverse: Tughra
Reverse: " ,o / J_r.4')1....,I / _} / ..,.., / ~
(Struck in lslämböl 1115)
Script in five lines, with an ornament above
Weight: 3.46 g · </) 18.8 mm
Literature: BMC, Coins of the Turks 473 - Pere 499

In the decades following the second fruitless siege ofVienna by the Turks in 1683,
the Ottoman Empire had to accept considerable lasses of territory from its Euro-
pean part. Numerous contacts with the west led to an intensive preoccupation
with the intellectual currents and technical developments of the Christian states.
Under Sultan Ahmed III permanent embassies were sent (for the first time in the
history of the Ottoman Empire) to Paris, Vienna, Moscow and Warsaw. ldeas
picked up there caused art and literature to prosper and also gave new impetus
to building activity, as reflected in the Sadabäd park, based on the chäteau of
Versailles.
Ahmed III was overthrown in 1730 by rebel janissaries (the elite troops of the
army) and died in prison in 1736.
The obverse of the piece known as Zer-i Istanbul or also as Fmd1k Altm bears as its
design the seal of the sultan, the so-called Tughra. The title of the ruler of the day,
his name and that of his father were worked into a basic pattern (which remained
the same subsequently), consisting partly of transverse curved lines and partly of
lines running vertically. In our example the name of Mehmed IV is given as well
as that of Ahmed. There is in addition the formula "always victorious''. which by
that period no langer fitted the facts. The reverse names the mint and the opening
year of the reign. The name Istanbul for Constantinople, which had already
become usual in colloquial speech, appears here for the first time on a coin. The
Zer-i Istanbul was also issued as a half-piece.

PLATE 70
OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Sultan Selim III, 1203-1222 Hijra (AD 1789-1807)

Zer-i Ma~büb, 1213/1214 Hijra (AD 1799/1800)
Mint: lslämböl (Istanbul)
Obverse: wL\:i..L.J\ / '1
wL\:i..L.JI / .:,,__,,...JI wl.9~.., / .:i.r.11 w\.W...,
(Sultan of the two continents and ruler of the two seas, the sultan,
son of the sultan, 11)
Script in four lines
Reverse: , 'I' • r Jr."")1...1 _) ..,_,.ri' Q_,,..aj r
(May his victory be glorious, struck in Islambol, 1203)
Script in several lines, with the Tughra above
Weight: 2.34 g · </J 22.l mm
Literature: BMC, Coins of the Turks 757

Alliance between Russia and Austria brought new military defeats for the Otto-
man Empire and, in the peace of Jassy in 1792, lass of territory to Russia. Prussia,
among others, had interceded on behalf of the Turks.
The decay of central authority made itself noticeable in the virtually independ-
ently-ruled provinces, for example in the Levant. After Napoleon's troops had
been expelled from Egypt with English assistance, the Turkish commander seized
power there as weil.
The lost battles prompted Selim III, represented here by one of his coins,
to reform his army along European lines. This gave rise to opposition from the
janissaries, who were still powerful; the sultan was deposed by them and later
murdered.
An earlier coinage reform, begun under Mustapha II and completed by his suc-
cessor Ahmed III, had brought in the Zer-i Ma~büb (depicted here) as a second,
smaller, gold denomination. In translation, its name means "well-liked gold';
in which the Persian zer means gold and the Arabic mahbüb, well-liked. For the
most part, the coins did not achieve the prescribed weight of 2.60 g.
In contrast to the simple, clear issues of Ahmed III, the designs of obverse and
reverse were altered for Selim's coins (Plate 70). The Tughra (the seal of the sultan)
now appears on the reverse, with the monogram "Selim bin Mustapha''. In ad-
dition, the mint and the formula "may his victory be glorious" are given in a text
which is arbitrarily distributed over the surface of the coin. The regnal year (in this
case 11) is named as weil as the year of accession; from these two figures, the date of
striking can be calculated as AD 1799/1800. The two continents mentioned in the
inscription are tobe interpreted as Europe and Asia, and the seas probably as the
Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Like the Altm, the Zer-i Ma~büb was also
issued in fractional and multiple weights.

PLATE 71
OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Sultan Mahmud II, 1223-1255 Hijra (AD 1808-1839)

Jedid Rumi, 1235 Hijra (AD 1820/ 1821)
Mint: Constantinople
Obverse: In the central field, Tughra with floral ornament
Legend: 0\h.L.JI ..:,, 0\h.L.J I J-.,,.._JI 01.91.:--J J-_.,.jl 0\W...,
(Sultan of the two continents and ruler of the two seas, the sultan,
son of the sultan)
Reverse: In the central field, in several lines: 1 YYI" ~ _} ..,.,~ II"
(13, struck in Constantinople, 1223)
Legend: ~ tl~ 01.:-- ~ \ ~ 0Lb.i...JI ..:,,1 01.:-- ~~ 0Lb.i...J I
(Sultan Mahmud Khan, son of the Sultan Abd al-Hamid khan,
may his kingdom endure)
Weight: 2.41 g · (/J 22.9 mm
Literature: BMC, Coins of the Turks 872

The murder of Selim III was avenged in 1808 by a local governor (who later
became Grand Vizier) and in the following year the sole surviving prince,
Mahmud II, was able to accede to the Ottoman throne. Externally his reign
was characterised by numerous wars, and many territories, including eastern
Moldavia (Bessarabia), Greece and Algeria, were lost by the empire. The sultan
destroyed the janissaries in Istanbul in 1826; from 1835 the General (later Field
Marshal) Helmuth von Moltke served as military adviser against the rebel
Egyptians. Following an audience, he described Mahmud as a benevolent and
kindly ruler.
This sultan far outdid all of his predecessors in his coinage. Mahmud's reign is
marked by a multiplicity of gold coins brought into being through numerous and
sometimes confusing reforms. The piece shown here, which originated at the
beginning of the Greek Rising of 1820/ 1821, belongs to the Zer-i Mahbüb series
and represents its last issue. In the following year, a new gold coin was issued,
weighing only 1.50 g, and 830/ 1000 fine.
The arrangement of obverse and reverse is altered yet again vis-a-vis those of the
Ottoman issues shown in the preceding plates. An inscription typical only of this
denomination appears around the central field; against the rule, the base of the
lettering follows the outer edge of the circle of the coin. The text takes up earlier,
well-known formulae. However, the sultan's name appears here twice, both in the
Tughra, once more placed on the obverse, and in the reverse legend. The central
field of the latter contains the regnal year, the mint (for which recourse was had to
the old name Constantinople) and the year of accession to the throne.

PLATE 72
SULTANATE OF ATJEH

Sultan Salah ad-Din, 1530-1539

Mas, n.d.
Mint uncertain
Obverse: J.!W I Ji.k.L.J I
(The just Sultan) in bold calligraphic script, enclosed by a circle of pellets
Reverse: _,..i,WI ...s::.L. ~ ..:,,1 ~t...,
(Salah, son of Ali, of the royal conqueror) in calligraphic and in part corrupt
script, surrounded by a circle of pellets
Weight: 0.60 g · (/) 11.3 mm
Literature: Millies 132 - Vogel collection 471

The sultanate of Atjeh in north Sumatra probably came into being at the
beginning of the 16th century through the integration of smaller local states.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Sultan of Atjeh ruled virtually the
entire northern half of the island. Atjeh achieved considerable importance in
the trade between China on one side and lndia and the Near East on the other
thanks to its favourable geographical situation. The sultanate succeeded for a
long time in beating off commercially motivated attempts at its seizure by
the European powers. There was implacable hostility between Atjeh and the
Portuguese mainland possession of Malacca; here, apart from trade interests,
strong Catholicism stood opposed to a sometimes fanatical Islam. The state lost
its independence in 1874 when conquered by the Dutch, who had declared war
upon the Sultan the previous year on a flimsy pretext.
All chronicles agree that Sultan Salah ad-Din, in whose name this coin was struck,
was an incompetent ruler. His father had succeeded in securing and extending the
power of Atjeh, which fact is referred to in the reverse legend of his son's coinage.
However, Salah ad-Din was more concerned to pursue his own pleasures than to
carry on his father's work. In 1539 he was deposed by his brother Ala-ad-Din and
incarcerated in the palace of Atjeh.
Very little is known of the Atjeh monetary system. As far as is known, the only
coins struck were the golden Mas, its half and double denominations, and lead
coins. The origin of the name "Mas" is unknown, but from metrological and
linguistic investigations may be assumed to be in the Indian area. The fineness of
this piece is around 800/ 1000.

PLATE 73
NORTH INDIA
under the Mughal emperors

Padishah Jalal-ad-din Akbar, 963-1014 Hijra (A. D.1556-1605)

Mohur, 983 Hijra (A. D.1575)
Mint: Lahore
Obverse: "111 JJ-'J / ..L.-.. / ..UI ":/1 .JI ")
(There is no god but God alone, Mohammad is the prophet of God)
Inscri ption in three lines .i. Ar-

Reverse: JY' "l ( ~ .i.9')1.;.JI) )-' ._,.,~ .4;,,.o ,1-..ul J';\;,:- ßi ..sß o~ -'~
(The victorious Padishah Akbar Jalal-ad-din Mohammad, struck in
the Abode of the [Caliphate] Lahore, 983)
lnscription in several lines
Weight: 10.61 g · </) 21.l mm
Literature: BMC, Coins of the Moghul Emperors, pi. III, 59

---------------= -~ --·--·
- · r • • • • • , · • r ~ r, r •

The dynasty of the Mughal emperors began with Babur in 1526. His grandson
Akbar ascended the throne in 1556 at the age of 14 and was able to hold it
unchallenged for 49 years. His reign was marked by his military conquest of the
Indian subcontinent as far as the Deccan highlands. An area of such size,
inhabited to a !arge extent by followers ofHinduism and other persuasions, could
only be ruled by a Sunni Moslem who had religious tolerance and by including
persons of different faiths in the administration, a policy that Akbar recognised
and adhered to strictly. The pantheism he developed led later to a new system of
dating which followed the solar year and thus for a time took the place of the
Islamic lunar year. At the same time, the Kalimah disappeared from the coins and
was replaced by a generally-worded divine formula.
The standard for this coin came from Transoxania, the area south-east of the Aral
Sea between the rivers Syr-Darya and Amu-Darya. Since thicker coins were
preferred in North India, the struck surfaces of coins maintaining the same
weight were smaller. The use of existing dies now marked the obverse with the
former central field only: the inscription of praise for the first four caliphs is
lacking; the same applies to the benediction formula "May the Almighty God
perpetuate ..." on the reverse. The use of over-large dies is no rarity.
The mohurs introduced under Akbar were sometimes of a square form, some-
times even in an oblong format with lobate ends. Both may originate from
Akbar's habit of innovation.
Under Akbar mobile military mints played an important part, accompanying the
army during its expeditions. Their products were current, according to their
legends, as Urdu- or Urdu Zafar ~rim-coinage: "camp on the way to victory':
The value-relationship of Akbar's gold issues and the silver coinage was variable.
In a !ist by Abu-'1-Fazl, friend and biographer of Akbar, the piece illustrated here
had a value of nine rupees.

PLATE 7-l
EMPIRE OF JAPAN

Shögun Tokugawa letsugu, 1712-1716

Kobankin, 1714
Mint: Edo (Tokyo)
Obverse: Two rectangular stamps, the upper reading Ichi Ryö, the lower,
Mitsutsugo. Above and below them, the Kiri-flower, in each case in a
crescent-shaped field. The whole surface is covered with thin horizontal
scratched lines.
Reverse: In the centre, the Kaö-stamp Gotö. Below left, two name-stamps.
Somewhat higher on the right, two private test-stamps
Weight: 17.80 g · (/J 69.5 x 38.2 mm
Literature: Bank of Japan, Vol. 3, 71-73

This Koban, manufactured from May of the fourth year of the Shotoku Era
(1714 ), belonged to the qualitatively most valuable issues in the coinage history of
Old Japan, with an unusually high fineness of 864 / 1000. lt represented the
equivalent of 1 Ryö (lchi Ryö), the basic unit of the prevailing currency system.
The issue of the Koban was begun in the fifth year of the Keicho Era (1600) and
came to an end, as with the Öban, in 1860.
Unlike the Öban, the indication of value was stamped on to the smaller
denominations, and not applied in ink by hand. The signature of the member of
the Gotö family responsible for the gold coinage, in this case Mitsutsugo, was also
stamped in the same way. The name Gotö is to be found in Kaö form in the
middle of the reverse. As with the Öban (Plate 77), the two stamps in the lower
left-hand corner belonged to mint-personnel. Here, however, only a single worker
was in charge of the man ufacture of the piece. The two small marks struck on the
right-hand side show that in this case the coin was also tested unofficially for
its weight and fineness - principally by money changers and traders. If a coin
once again came into the hands of someone who had already examined it and
placed his personal mark on it, there was no need for further scrutiny. The
existence of these marks shows that the Koban - unlike the Öban - was a coin of
general circulation.

PLATE 75
INDIA
under the Mughal emperors

Padishah Farrukh Siyar, 1124-1131 Hijra (A.D. 1713-1719)

Mohur, 1127 Hijra (A.D. 1715)
Mint: Bijapur
Obverse: ri' / ._,,, / JY,~ J') / _,,ili.l l / jl.o ~ / i..r / i..rP
(Struck in the House of Victory Bij apur in year 3 r ,~
[of his accession] of the reign of tranquil prosperity)
Several lines of script interspersed with floral ornaments
Reverse: \\TV ~ j l )j / ,,5:_,, / 7.) _r'-). )~ Jj ) r?. / 0~ / .,r.-" t) ,Y
(By the grace of truth struck coins in gold and silve r the Padishah of sea
and land Farrukh Siyar, 1127)
Several lines of script
Weight: 10.91 g · (/) 20.6 mm
Literature: BMC, Coins of the Moghul Emperors 898 var. (regnal year)

The series of important Mughal emperors ended in 1707 with the death of
Akbar's great-grandson Aurangzeb, during whose reign the coming decline of the
empire was already looming. Although he succeeded in extending his power to
cover virtually the whole Indian subcontinent, he had, as an orthodox Sunni
Moslem, made bitter enemies ofHindus, Sikhs,Jains and Shiites. His successors,
among them Farrukh Siyar, were unable to restore the empire to its original size
and power: it began to disintegrate. Bijapur in the southern Deccan, conquered
by Aurangzeb in 1685, was only active as an Imperial mint up to the reign of
Farrukh Siyar.
The illustrated mohur complies with the typical design of north Indian coins of
the Mughal period, which were later also sometimes imitated by the East India
Company with the permission andin the name of the ruler of the day. The reverse
bears a two-line verse in Persian which was used only by Farrukh Siyar, replacing
the normally used title "victorious Padishah" by the formula "Padishah of sea and
land" - a motto which did not match reality. As also on the obverse, the inscrip-
tion starts with the lowest line; the words thus do not follow one another in order
and are even occasionally split up into single syllables. The broad lines running
transversely on both sides of the coin are greatly stretched out letters and perform
a decorative division of the design. The mixing of Arabic and Persian on the
obverse is linguistically noteworthy.
A peculiarity of Farrukh Siyar's gold coinage is the issue of tiny gold coins with
diameters between 0.8 and 1.3 cm and weights between 1.40 and 3.40 g resembling
South Indian issues. These coins were probably produced in the Deccan area.

PLATE 76
EMPIRE OF JAPAN

Shögun Tokugawa Yoshimune, 1716-1745

Öbankin, 1725
Mint: Edo (Tokyo)
Obverse: Jü Ryö Gotö (written) Gotö (as Kaö = seal-script).
Four stamps in the form of a Kiri-flower, each enclosed in a single plain
circle. The whole surface is covered with transverse grooves
Reverse: Three large and three small stamps. Of the large, the two upper
repeat the Kiri-flower - one within a hexagon and a circle, the other
unenclosed. The lowest stamp reads Gotö (as Kaö). Three stamps in the lower
left corner. On the lower right, a private test-mark.
Weight: 165.51 g · </> 151.5 x 93.2 mm
Literature: Bank of Japan, Vol. 3, 96

The Öban illustrated here was one of an issue of only 8,515 pieces struck in
October of the tenth year of the Kyöhö Era (1725). The value of this coin Qü Ryö
= 10 Ryö) was written on the obverse in ink. Below, the member of the Gotö
family responsible for the gold coinage is designated (here simply by the family
name) in two ways: the name is written out, and also presented in Kaö form. Kaö,
a special calligraphic personal signature, was reserved for high-ranking individ-
uals, and had tobe executed by their own hand. From the form of the writing, the
inscriber of this piece can be identified as Gotö Shinjö. The gold coinage came
under the control of a member of the Gotö family as early as the time of
Tokugawa leyasu (1542-1616, Shögun from 1603). To prevent abrasion of the
script, single pieces were wrapped in silk, cotton, etc., and larger amounts were
kept in suitably compartmentalised wooden chests. lt was possible to have the
inscription renewed against payment of a fee. In addition to the script, the
obverse bears four stamps in the form of Kiri-flowers, an old imperial symbol of
unknown origin. The groove-marks which cover the whole of the obverse of
the coin perhaps indicated that the piece consisted entirely of precious metal.
The three small stamps on the reverse belonged to members of the mint staff.
The two lower ones identify in abbreviated form the names of the workers who
manufactured this Öban, and the upper one was struck by a supervisor.
With a weight of 165 g and a nominal value of 10 Ryö (corresponding to 75 kg of
copper coinage), the Öban possessed an enormous purchasing power - far too
high for everyday transactions. Originally these coins were used in transactions of
the Imperial Court, and by the court nobility as gifts. Later on, foreign and larger
internal payments were made with the aid of Öbans. The last Öbans were
produced in the first year of the Manen Era (1860).

PLATE 77
 SOUTH INDIA

British East India Company, 1600-1858

Pagoda, n. d. (ca.1740-1808)

••
Mint: Madras
Obverse: A male figure standing between two warnen. Elongated oval shapes
above their heads suggest crowns. The fields above right and left are filled
with ornaments
Reverse: An irregular granulated surface
Weight: 3.44 g · </J 13.0 mm
Literature: IMC Vol. 1, XXX, 22

In 1600, ~een Elizabeth I of England bestowed the monopoly of the East India
trade on a group of rich London merchants. India's most important exports were
spices, precious stones, cotton and silk. This British East India Company (The
Governor and Company of Merchants of London, trading to the East lndies)
established its first settlements on the east and west coasts of the Indian peninsula
as early as 1611 and 1613. The trading post of Madras, founded in 1640, soon after-
wards obtained from the rulers of the South Indian kingdom of Vijayanagar the
right to strike Pagodas of the local type. No hint of its issuing authority is tobe
found on the illustrated coin. lt is generally accepted that this highly stylised type,
with the figures shown only half-length, was principally issued by the British.
With the Proclamation of7 January 1818, English issues of the Pagoda were finally
discontinued, and the silver rupee introduced as the new standard coin in the
Madras Presidency.
The meaning of the three figures on the obverse is obscure. All that is agreed is
that a trio of deities is depicted here. According to the coins of the Kingdom of
Vijayanagar, which formed the prototypes, the central standing god should be
identified with Venka!esvara, attended by two ofhis wives. The reverse of the coin
is plain: originally completely flat, it was produced in a granulated form by the
British.
The origins of the Pagoda, in Indian "varäha'; lie in South India. As the standard
gold coin of this region, it developed there completely self-contained and
independent from the rest of the Indian monetary systems. The earliest, not
accurately datable, examples are little gold lumps either lacking a design or with a
single small punch-mark. The Pagodas were the same weight as the "Molucca
bean" (c. 3.30-3.40g). The European name "Pagoda" is Portuguese in origin and
is probably traceable to the goddess Bhagavati, who is depicted on some of
these coins.

PLATE 78
EMPIRE OF JAPAN

Shögun Tokugawa lenari, 1786-1837

Nibukin, 1828
Mint: Edo (Tokyo)
Obverse: Ni (right) Bu (left) between two Kiri-flowers. A border of pellets
surrounds the whole design, interrupted by the two characters and the
enclosure round the upper flower
Reverse: Mitsutsugo (in cursive script) Gotö (as Kaö). In the upper right-hand
corner, Bun. Here too, the design is enclosed by a border of pellets
Weight: 6.54 g · </) 23.2 x 13.8 mm
Literature: Bank of Japan, Vol. 3, 290-293

The execution of a coinage reform in the first year of the Bunsei Era (1818) made a
start in countering the financial difficulties into which the Shögunate had fallen
during the reign ofTokugawa Ienari. lt included a recoinage of existing coin types
and the introduction of two new denominations, and stretched over a period of
18 years until the sixth year of the Tempo Era (1835). This "reform" was based
firstly on a size-reduction of the coins and secondly on a reduction in their
fineness.
Our illustration shows one of the newly-created denominations. This coin, with a
nominal value of two Bu (Nibu) corresponded to a half Koban. Its production
began in 1818 and there was a second issue in the eleventh year of the Bunsei Era
(1828). The name of the era is given in abbreviated form on the reverse in the
top right-hand corner of the design. This side is dominated by the signature of
Mitsutsugo Gotö.
Tokugawa Ienari's coinage reform had disastrous consequences for the country's
economy. The !arge numbers of small denominations put into circulation (the
issue ofNibu alone amounted in all to 5,019,083.5 Ryö) led to colossal increases in
the price of rice and other essential commodities. At the same time, the govern-
ment-imposed ad valorem equation of the older, qualitatively better, coins with
the new debased issues caused the good pieces tobe withdrawn from circulation
and hoarded by the populace. Even the infliction of the severest punishments
was unable to stop this. In 1827, in order to recover the reserves of hoarded
precious meta!, the use of the old coins was forbidden, and their seizure ordered.
However, the aim of this measure was not realised, since the population
completely ignored the decree. The fineness of this coin is 480/1000.

PLATE 79
AP PENDIX

lntroductory notes

The fo ll ow in g pages co mpri se

• the fam il y tree of the pi stol e

• a description of a coin-ba lance from Berg
• a table of coinage standards.

Th e "pisto le" is the gold coin of two escudos introduced in

Spain in 15 66, which beca me the basic prototype for the
co inage of many European countries.
The illustrat io n of a coin-balance from Berg, its detai led
descripti o n a nd reproductions of coins corresponding to the
weigh ts used with it are intended to give an idea of how the
correct weight of a coin tend ered in payment could be checked
immediate ly.
The appen di x concludes with a table of coinage standards
summarising all the avai lable data o n the coins illustrated in
this volume.

A text elu cida te s each of the three foregoing themes.

THE FAMILY TREE OF THE "PISTOLE" SP.4 11". D OU BLE ESC U D O 1566

In 15 66 King Philip II of Spain created a coin (th e double 1

1
1
denomination of the escudo introdu ced in 153 7) whi ch wa s 1 1
1
to become the ancestor of man y Eu ropean issues. Call ed Lorraine Boui//011 Nmchittel Om11ge
doblon in Spain, it was given a broad such n ame s as dublone, Pisto le 1587 Pistole 1587 Double pisto le 1603 D o uble pi sto le 1616
duplone or doppi a. Howe ve r, the name pistole, whose origin , - - - - -- - ---L- - - - -------
has no t bee n cl arified to thi s day, was the most widel y
U,i Preib111 g Ge11e/'{/
acce pted. Its fin eness, which was not altered fo r ce nturies,
Pisto le 1613 D o uble pisto le 1622 Pistol e 1633
was set by law for the Spani sh and French iss ues at 22 carats
(916/ 1000), and its nominal we ight was 6.76 g. The pistole
became a global co in when King Lo ui s XIII of France had Portugal
the Lo ui s d'or iss ued to its stand ards in 1640 (Pl ate 32). D o bra of 2 escudos l 72 2
U nlike the Spanish dob lon , which had on its o bve rse the France
Louis d'or 1640 Smtla11d
arm s of th e ruler and on its reverse a cross in a quatrefoil, the Pi stole 1701
French coin bore the rul er's portrait o n one side and an 1\lalta
o rnamental d esign on the other. Man y European territories Bavm irt Brwmia Norway Pmssirt 10 scudi 173 6
adopted this id ea and introd uced simil ar types, whi ch were Max d'or 1715 - - - - Carolin 1726 Gold coin Wilhelm d'o r 1737
also so m etime s named after the issu ing ruler. imitating th e
1

Paderborn Württemberg Louis d'or 1673 1

At the end of the 17th ce ntury, !a rge numbers of Spani sh a nd Carolin 1731 Pmssia
V2 Max d'or 1720
French pi stoles arrived in G erm an y. To curb this invasion of Friedrich d'or 1740
fo reign go ld coins (p rimaril y French Lou is d'or) King Frede-
Montfort
V2 Ernst d'or 1732 --------------------- - - - - --- 1
rick William I of Prussia created for hi s country th e Wilhelm Russia
Eleäoral Rhenish Pa!ati11ate Bm 11su-ick-lflo/fe11biitte!
d'o r, which was first iss ued in 1737 with the we ight of a 112 Tmpe ri,il 176 3
Carolin 1732 Karl d'or 1742
doubl e pi stole. H owever, th e pi stol e was not issued in Pru ssia
Baden-Dur/ach A 11ha/t-Bembu 1g D eumark
in ir, original we ight until 1740 und er Frederick II, as th e
Friedri ch d'or (= 1/z Wilhelm d'or - Pl ate 49). Carolin 1733 5 Talers 1744 r- Christian d'o r l771
Hesse-Darmstadt 1\tleckleubu 1g-Strelitz L Pola11d
The Fre nch prototype was co pied earlier in Bavaria than in Ernst d'or 1733 5 Talers 174 7 Stani slaus d'o r 1794
Pru ss ia . In 1726, the Electo r Charles A lbert bad the Carol in H ohenzol/e1·11-Hechi 11geu SrtXOII)' (far Po/(11/d)
stru ck as successo r to th e M ax d'or; it had a sh arp ly redu ced Carolin 1734 August d'or 1752
finen ess but a hi gher weight (Plate 48). In G erman y th e Bra11de11buig-A11sbach Meck le11bu1 g-Sclm-eri11
p istole was worth five Tal ers of acco unt and thi s va lu e was Carolin 1734 10 Talers 1752
eve n occasio nall y give n on t he co in s (correspond ingl y on Fulda IVied
doubl e pisto les as ten Talers). 5 Talers 1752
Carolin 1734
Waldeck Pomerr111ia
The diagram oppos ite shows what a lasti ng effect the crea-
Carolin 1734 Adolf d'or 1758
tion of the doubl e es cudo has had o n th e m od ern E u ro p ea n
mon eta ry system : th e pisto le circul ated fro m Malta in th e Cologne Ha11over
so uth to Norway in t he north, and fr o m Scotl and in the we st Carolin 1735 G eorg d'o r 1758
to Ru ss ia in th e eas t. ltali an iss ues have not bee n included, Hildesheim
1/z pisto le 17 63
since numi smati c re se arch has no t ye t definiti ve ly deter-
mined th e various coinage standards in use there, a nd o nl y a Solothum Schau mburg-Lij1pe
specifi c inves tigation of its fi n en ess cou ld asce rtain wh eth er Du plone 1787 10 Ta lers 1763
a part icu lar piece was stru ck acco rdin g to the pi stole o r th e 1 Beme Sa:x:e-lVei ma r
ducat sta ndard.
r- Duplcne 1793
1 5 Talers 1764
1 Lucem e Paderbom
The Scottish (1701) and Netherlandi sh (18 16) iss ues un- ' 12 Münzgulden 1794 5 Talers 1767
doubtedl y go back to the double escudo. Howeve r, the p at h ~ City ofBasle Hesse-Cassel
of th eir d escent ca nno t be traced with a suffic ien t de gree of D up lone 1795 Pisto le 1771
ce rtainty. Th erefo re the depiction even of poss ibl e deri va-
tions did not appear to us to be justifi ed. Liibeck
Pistole 1776
O!de11bmg
5 Tale rs 1776
A nhalt-Bembu 1g
Pistole 1796
Westj1ha!ia
definite derivatio n N etherla11ds
J er6me-Napoleon d'or 1810
- - - - - - - - possibl e derivation 10 Guld en 1816
E!ectoral Hesse
Wilhelm d'o r 1841
THE FAMILY TREE OF THE "PISTOLE" SP.4 11". D OU BLE ESC U D O 1566

In 15 66 King Philip II of Spain created a coin (th e double 1

1
1
denomination of the escudo introdu ced in 153 7) whi ch wa s 1 1
1
to become the ancestor of man y Eu ropean issues. Call ed Lorraine Boui//011 Nmchittel Om11ge
doblon in Spain, it was given a broad such n ame s as dublone, Pisto le 1587 Pistole 1587 Double pisto le 1603 D o uble pi sto le 1616
duplone or doppi a. Howe ve r, the name pistole, whose origin , - - - - -- - ---L- - - - -------
has no t bee n cl arified to thi s day, was the most widel y
U,i Preib111 g Ge11e/'{/
acce pted. Its fin eness, which was not altered fo r ce nturies,
Pisto le 1613 D o uble pisto le 1622 Pistol e 1633
was set by law for the Spani sh and French iss ues at 22 carats
(916/ 1000), and its nominal we ight was 6.76 g. The pistole
became a global co in when King Lo ui s XIII of France had Portugal
the Lo ui s d'or iss ued to its stand ards in 1640 (Pl ate 32). D o bra of 2 escudos l 72 2
U nlike the Spanish dob lon , which had on its o bve rse the France
Louis d'or 1640 Smtla11d
arm s of th e ruler and on its reverse a cross in a quatrefoil, the Pi stole 1701
French coin bore the rul er's portrait o n one side and an 1\lalta
o rnamental d esign on the other. Man y European territories Bavm irt Brwmia Norway Pmssirt 10 scudi 173 6
adopted this id ea and introd uced simil ar types, whi ch were Max d'or 1715 - - - - Carolin 1726 Gold coin Wilhelm d'o r 1737
also so m etime s named after the issu ing ruler. imitating th e
1

Paderborn Württemberg Louis d'or 1673 1

At the end of the 17th ce ntury, !a rge numbers of Spani sh a nd Carolin 1731 Pmssia
V2 Max d'or 1720
French pi stoles arrived in G erm an y. To curb this invasion of Friedrich d'or 1740
fo reign go ld coins (p rimaril y French Lou is d'or) King Frede-
Montfort
V2 Ernst d'or 1732 --------------------- - - - - --- 1
rick William I of Prussia created for hi s country th e Wilhelm Russia
Eleäoral Rhenish Pa!ati11ate Bm 11su-ick-lflo/fe11biitte!
d'o r, which was first iss ued in 1737 with the we ight of a 112 Tmpe ri,il 176 3
Carolin 1732 Karl d'or 1742
doubl e pi stole. H owever, th e pi stol e was not issued in Pru ssia
Baden-Dur/ach A 11ha/t-Bembu 1g D eumark
in ir, original we ight until 1740 und er Frederick II, as th e
Friedri ch d'or (= 1/z Wilhelm d'or - Pl ate 49). Carolin 1733 5 Talers 1744 r- Christian d'o r l771
Hesse-Darmstadt 1\tleckleubu 1g-Strelitz L Pola11d
The Fre nch prototype was co pied earlier in Bavaria than in Ernst d'or 1733 5 Talers 174 7 Stani slaus d'o r 1794
Pru ss ia . In 1726, the Electo r Charles A lbert bad the Carol in H ohenzol/e1·11-Hechi 11geu SrtXOII)' (far Po/(11/d)
stru ck as successo r to th e M ax d'or; it had a sh arp ly redu ced Carolin 1734 August d'or 1752
finen ess but a hi gher weight (Plate 48). In G erman y th e Bra11de11buig-A11sbach Meck le11bu1 g-Sclm-eri11
p istole was worth five Tal ers of acco unt and thi s va lu e was Carolin 1734 10 Talers 1752
eve n occasio nall y give n on t he co in s (correspond ingl y on Fulda IVied
doubl e pisto les as ten Talers). 5 Talers 1752
Carolin 1734
Waldeck Pomerr111ia
The diagram oppos ite shows what a lasti ng effect the crea-
Carolin 1734 Adolf d'or 1758
tion of the doubl e es cudo has had o n th e m od ern E u ro p ea n
mon eta ry system : th e pisto le circul ated fro m Malta in th e Cologne Ha11over
so uth to Norway in t he north, and fr o m Scotl and in the we st Carolin 1735 G eorg d'o r 1758
to Ru ss ia in th e eas t. ltali an iss ues have not bee n included, Hildesheim
1/z pisto le 17 63
since numi smati c re se arch has no t ye t definiti ve ly deter-
mined th e various coinage standards in use there, a nd o nl y a Solothum Schau mburg-Lij1pe
specifi c inves tigation of its fi n en ess cou ld asce rtain wh eth er Du plone 1787 10 Ta lers 1763
a part icu lar piece was stru ck acco rdin g to the pi stole o r th e 1 Beme Sa:x:e-lVei ma r
ducat sta ndard.
r- Duplcne 1793
1 5 Talers 1764
1 Lucem e Paderbom
The Scottish (1701) and Netherlandi sh (18 16) iss ues un- ' 12 Münzgulden 1794 5 Talers 1767
doubtedl y go back to the double escudo. Howeve r, the p at h ~ City ofBasle Hesse-Cassel
of th eir d escent ca nno t be traced with a suffic ien t de gree of D up lone 1795 Pisto le 1771
ce rtainty. Th erefo re the depiction even of poss ibl e deri va-
tions did not appear to us to be justifi ed. Liibeck
Pistole 1776
O!de11bmg
5 Tale rs 1776
A nhalt-Bembu 1g
Pistole 1796
Westj1ha!ia
definite derivatio n N etherla11ds
J er6me-Napoleon d'or 1810
- - - - - - - - possibl e derivation 10 Guld en 1816
E!ectoral Hesse
Wilhelm d'o r 1841
DESCRIPTION OF A COIN-BALANCE FROMBERG, DATED 1779

A f1at rectangular maplewood box, stained black, closed The following coin-weights are represented m the coin-
from above by two brass hooks in the form of stork's bills balance:
decorated with stamped ringlets.
Spain 4 pistoles = 26.95 9 g
In the base of the box, specially cut-out recesses house the 2 pistoles = 13.4 79 g
balance, sixteen weights (in three rows) and at the top right 1 pistole = 6.729 g
the compensatory weights, in a compartment closed by a Ilz pistole = 3.333 g
brass flap. The balance-beam is of steel, with a plain pointer, France 1 Louis au soleil = 8.102 g,
and runs out· at each end in the form of a swan's neck . The struck 1709 - 1716
suspension of each of the two unsigned circular brass scale- Ilz Louis au soleil = 4.054 g
pans consists of three green silk cords. The weights, cast in 1 Louis a ux 1unettes = 8.115 g,
brass, are square truncated pyramids or square sheets. Their struck from 1726
knob-shaped handles, attached in the centres, fit into cylind-
rical holes drilled in the inside of the lid. The name of the N etherlands 1 severin (double souverain) = 11.091 g
coin corresponding to each weight is stamped on its surface, Ilz severin (souverain) = 5.53 7 g
and the coin-designations are also recorded in red ink above
German Empire 1 Goldgulden = 3.226 g
each compartment.
1 ducat = 3.473 g
2 ducats = 6.952 g
A decorative printed labe! with name, place and date is past- 1 Max d'or =6.476g
Ilz Max d'or = 3.227 g
ed on to the inner side of the lid:
1 Carolin = 9.698 g
Ilz Carolin = 4.895 g
Scale and weights
made by
Your Electoral Highness in the Palatinate's The balance-maker Johann Peter Braselmann from Wich-
most graciously privileged, examined linghausen near Oberbarmen lived from 1730 until 1791. He
was granted the privilege for his trade on 16 January 1765.
and sworn weightmaker
Judging by the manuscript entries on the lower edge of the
JOH. PET. BRASELMANN, labe!, he sold the balance at the Frankfurt Fair to Johann
at Wichlinghausen in Oberbarmen. 1779. Holverscheid, who had stand number 86 and, according
to the still extant "Fair Diagram", came from Solingen and
sold to ]oh. Holverscheid, Frankfurt am Main N 2- 86 dealt in knives and swords.

Th e co rre sponding coi ns

(scale l: 1.25)
in the sam e order
 4 pistollen
1pistoll 2 pistoll 1 Schilt Lsdor

1 PIS~OL

1 Son:pist
1 1

1
2
PIS~OL
son:pzst.
1
[:J C;J
f pistoll
R

1 Ma :dor
Diagr.1mmatic arrange ment
of the weights

t Ma :dor 1 Carliner

G;J ~
1

L
2
*
PISTOL 1 j PISTOL 1 l j MAXD 1
1 CA:LIN 1

lggln 1 Severin 1Severin 1 Ducat 2 Ducat t Carliner

CJ Ld 1 j SEVER J ~ 1 DU:AT 1
1 jCAllIN 1
NOTES ON THE TABLE OF COINAGE STANDARDS

The table of coinage standards on the following pages gives

details of the contemporary specifications (i. e. how heavy
and with what proportion of gold) to which the coins illus-
trated on Plates 1-79 were tobe struck. Such a summary is
bound to be incomplete, since the specifications for some
pieces are (still) not known. This is particularly true of the
issues of the Otto man Empire and those of the Asiatic states.
Certain figures are given with a question-mark, since these
details were taken from ordinances and sources which
belang to periods earlier or later than the date of origin of the
illustrated coins and thus do not refer directly to them. lt is
also an open question whether the statements made there are
in fact true of the piece illustrated. The details given in 19th
century merchants' handbooks should likewise be treated
with caution, although these contain a great deal of valuable
information.

The gold fineness of the coins is given both in carats and

grains (1 carat = 12 grains; in England at first 1 carat =
4 grains) - the terms used in the old ordinances - and also as
calculated in parts per mille. The basic coinage weight, the
mark, describes the amount of gold (alloyed in the prescribed
fineness) out of which a certain number of pieces was to be
produced. lt was this number, and not, for example, the
nominal weight of the coins, that was given in the relevant
ordinances. Cases in which the coinage decree appears on the
coin itself are more common among silver coins; there are
only a few examples of this among gold coins. One of them
is the Danish species-ducat which is shown on plate 66.
The complete coinage decree appears on its reverse:

Denomination: 1 species-ducat

Fineness: 23 1/z carats (= 979.16/1000)

Quantity to be struck from the mark: 67

Basic coinage weight: 1 gross mark (= 233.856 g)

Both the gross (nominal) weight and the fine weight can be
calculated from these data as follows:

Basic coinage weight : number = nominal weight

(233.856 g 67 3.49 g)

Nominal weight : 1000 x fineness = fine weight

(3.49 g : 1000 X 979.16 = 3.41 g)

For a few of the issues set out in the Table, the underlying
mark-weight is known imprecisely or not at all. In a case of
divergent information in the technical literature, the highest
and lowest of the weights given are quoted as basic values.
Either the city or country which gave its name to the mark in
question appears as weil after the numerical value, or the
name of the basic weight is given.

The sequence in the table corresponds to that ofthe coins on

the plates and not to the chronology of the individual
decrees.
Plate Date of Country! City Name of coin Nominal Fine weight Fineness in Weight basis of
decree weight m grams carats and grains comage
m grams = parts per mille m grams

? Milan Double ducat 7.02 7.02 24 = 1000 234.9973 Milan

2 1497 Castile 4 excelentes 14.08 13.93 23 3/4 = 989.58 229.456 Castile

3 1500 Salzburg 3 ducats 10.65 10.53 23 3/4 = 989.58

-1 1515 Milan under Scudo d'oro 3.50 3.37 23 1/s = 963.00 244.7529 Paris
Frcmce

5 1521 Brabant Carolusgulden 2.91 1.69 14 = 583.33 244 .7 529 Paris

6 1499 Portugal Portugues 35.09 34.72 23 3/4 = 989.58 229.50 Portugal

8 1537 Spain Escudo 3.38 3.09 22 = 916.66 230.01 Spain

9 1541 France Ecu d'or a la 3.44 3.29 23 = 958.33 244.7529 Paris

croisette

10 1545 England Crown 3.11 2.59 20 = 833.33 373.248 Engl. Troy

pound

12 1555 Portugal Cruzado calvario 22 1/g = 921.88 229.50 Portugal

13 1550 France Double Henri d'or 7.30 7.00 23 = 958.33 244.7529 Paris

1-1 Livonia Goldgulden 4.14? 4.09? 23 3/4 = 989.58? 186.486 - 192.0

Kulm ?

15 1558 England Half-pound 5.65 5.18 22 = 916.66 373.248 Engl. Troy

pound

16 1557? Flanders Half-real 3.50 2.62 18 = 750.00 244.7529 Paris

17 ? Hungaiy Ducat 3.55 3.50 23 213 = 986.11 245 .537 Ofen

19 1583/4 England Sovereign 15.55 15.47 23C3 1/zG= 373.248 Engl. Troy
994.80 pound

20 1578/ 80? Riga under Portugalöser 35.30? 34.56? 23 1/z = 979.16? 197.0 Cracow
Poland

21 Piacenza 2 doppie 13.10 11.87 21 3/4 = 906.25

22 SiJdermanland 8 marks 3.26 3.19? 23 Vz = 979.16 ? 210.64 Stockholm

23 1600 Brabant Double Albertin 5.15 4.61 21 1/z = 895.83 244.7529 Paris

24 1601 Scotland Sword & sceptre 5.09 4.66 22 = 916.66 373.248 Engl. Troy
p1ece pound

26 1612 Tournai Double 11.08 10.18 22C 3/4 G= 244.7529 Paris

Souverain 919.27

28 1623 England Laure! 9.10 8.34 22 = 916.66 373.248 Engl. Troy

pound
 Plate Date of Countryl City Name of coin Nominal Fine weight Fineness in Weight basis of
decree weight m grams carats and grains comage
m grams = parts per mille m grams

29 1559 Magdeburg Goldgulden 3.25 2.50 18 1/2 = 770.83 233.856 Cologne

30 1637 Liege Ecu d'or 3.38 2.98 21 1/6 = 881.94 246.028 Liege
Ferdinandus

32 1640 France Louis d'or 6.75 6.19 22 = 916.66 244.7529 Paris

35 1586 Zwolle Ducat 3.51 3.46 23 213 = 986.11 246.084 Holl. Troy
mark

36 1649 Commonwealth Unite 9.10 8.34 22 = 916.66 373.248 Engl. Troy

o/England pound

37 1621 Brabant Souverain 5.54 5.09 22 C 3/4 G = 244.7529 Paris

919.27

38 1559 Frankfurt Ducat 3.49 3.44 23 213 = 986.11 233 .856 Cologne

39 1650/56/ 58? Thorn under 5 ducats 17.75? 201.89 Cracow

Poland

40 Portugal Moeda de ouro 10.74 9.84 22 = 916.66 229.50 Portugal

41 1596 Papal State Quadrupla 13.50 12.37 22 = 916.66 339.072 Roman

pound

42 1670 England 5 guineas 41.95 38.45 22 = 916.66 373.248 Engl. Troy

pound

23 213 = 986.11
1559 Mecklenburg 1/4 ducat
43 0.87 0.85 233.856 Cologne

44 1701 France Louis d'or 6.75 6.19 22 = 916.66 244. 7529 Paris
aux 8 L. ..

45 1675 Peru 8 escudos 27.06 24.80 22 = 916.66 230.01 Spain

46 1718 Russia Double rouble 4.09 3.19 18 3/4 = 781.25 409.51 Russian pound

47 1720 Brazil Dobrao 53.78 49.30 22 = 916.66 229.50 Portugal

48 1726 Bavaria Carolin 9.74 7.50 18 1/2 = 770.83 233.856 Cologne

49 1736 Prussia Friedrich d'or 6.73 6.12 21 516 = 909.72 233.856 Cologne

50 1752 Geneva Pistole 5.66 5.19 22 = 916.66 244.7529 Paris

51 1755 Russia Imperial 16.57 15.19 22 = 916.66 409.51 Russian pound

52 1586 Utrecht D ucat 3.51 3.46 23 213 = 986.11 246.084 Holl. Troy
m ark

53 1673 Zurich Ducat 3.44 3.35 23 C 5 G = 233.856 Cologne

975.69

54 ? Colombia 8 escudos 27.06 24.80 22 = 916.66 230.01 Spain

...
PLite Date of Country! City Name of coin Nominal Fine weight Fineness in Weight basis of
decree weight m grams carats and grains c01nage
m grams = parts per mille m grams

)) 1756 Malta 10 scudi 8.22 7.02 ? 20 Ilz = 854.16 ? 316.61 Maltese pound

56 ? Hildesheim 1
1z pistole 3.34? 3.01? 21 213 = 902.77? 233 .856 Cologne

) , 1749 Holland Rijd er 10.00 9.20 22 V12 = 920.13 246.084 Holl. Troy
mark

58 1763? Russia Ducat 3.4 7 3.3 9 23 V2 = 976.16 409.51 Russian pound

59 1717 Habsburg Lands Ducat 3.49 3.44 23 213 = 986.11 233.856 Cologne

60 ? Poland Ducat 3.49 3.44 23 213 = 986.11 23 3.856 Cologne

61 1772 Saxony Double 13.36 12.06 21 213 = 902.77 233.856 Cologne

August d'or

62 1777 Brazil V2 d o bra 14.34 13. 14 22 = 916.66 229.50 Portugal

63 1612 Austrian D o uble 11.08 10.18 22 C 3/4 G = 244.7529 Paris

Netherla nds Souverain 919.27

6--1 1787 Solothurn V4 duplone 1.91 1.75 22 = 916.66 244.7529 Paris

65 1790 United Belgian Lio n d'or 8.29 7.62 22 C 3/4 G = 244.7529 Paris
Provinces 919.27

66 D enmark Ducat 3.49 3.41 23 11z = 979.16 233 .856 Cologne

67 1793 Fra nce 24 li vres 7.6 5 7.01 22 = 916.66 244.7529 Paris

68 1807 Baden Du cat 3.67 3.44 22 V2 = 93 7.50 233 .856 Cologne

73 Atjeh Mas 0.60 9.60 Tael

/ ) 1714 Japan Kobankin 18.00 3750 Kwan

77 1725 J apan Öbankin 165.00 3750 Kwan

78 ? Brüish Emt India Pagoda 3.40? 373.248 Engl. Troy

Company pound
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