Achtbrüdertaler

Achtbrüdertaler are Reichstaler of the Duchy of Saxony-Weimar minted from 1607 to 1619 with the hip pictures of the eight sons of Duke Johann (1603-1605). For the most part, four brothers can be seen on either side of the taler . One variant shows all eight brothers on one side. Double, ½ and ¼ eight-brother thalers with the same coin designs were also minted. In addition, gold guilders and very rare two- and three- ducat pieces with the coin image of an eight brothers thaler are known.

Coin descriptions

The Reichstaler (weight approx. 29 grams, diameter 40 millimeters, silver) of the Duchy of Saxony-Weimar, minted in variants from 1607 to 1619, shows the eight sons of Duke Johann, who died in 1605. The coinage was made in 1571 to Upper Saxon collected Kreismünzstätte mint Saalfeld. The mint master in Saalfeld was Wolf Albrecht. His mint master mark WA is present on all Achtbrüdertalers.

On the thalers minted from 1607 to 1616, four brothers can be seen on the front and back. The front shows the hip pictures of Johann Ernst (born 1594), Friedrich (born 1596), Wilhelm (born 1598) and Albrecht (born 1599), the back Johann Friedrich (born 1600), Ernst (born 1601 ), Friedrich Wilhelm (born 1603) and Bernhard (born 1604). From 1616 to 1619 all eight brothers appear on the obverse of the thaler.

First variant 1607–1612

- see thaler from 1609

Achtbrüdertaler from 1609; Johann Ernst and his seven brothers in coats

• Front:
  • The first variant shows the hip pictures of the four older brothers in coats with a triple chain on the front. They each hold a drinking vessel in their right hand.
  • Inscription: ( Reichsapfel ) D (ei): G (ratia): IO (hannes): ERNES (tus): - FRIDERICVS. - WILHELMVS - ALBERTVS., Separated by three coats of arms. In section: MON (eta): NOV (a): ARG (entea): / VIII.FRAT (res) / DVC (es): SAX (oniae):
    • Translation: By God's grace Johann Ernst, Friedrich, Wilhelm, Albert. / New silver coin of the eight brothers, dukes of Saxony.
• Back:
  • The reverse shows the hip pictures of the four younger brothers. The type of representation corresponds to the front.
  • Inscription: IO (hannes): - FRIDERICꝰ [the abbreviation resembling the number 9 stands for (us)] - ERNESTVS - FRID (ericus): WILHELM (us) - BERNHARDꝰ, separated by four coats of arms. In the section the inscription: LINEAE VINA = / = RIENSIS / 16 WA 09 (mint master's mark between the year)
    • Translation: Johann Friedrich, Ernst, Friedrich Wilhelm, Bernhard, Weimar Line.

Second variant 1612

The second variant is identical to the third variant except for the inscription in the section on the front DISCORDIAE / FOMES INIVRIA (translated: injustice ignites discord). Since the saying could be perceived as a provocation, it was only briefly imprinted in 1612 and then replaced by a tendril ornament .

Third variant 1612–1616

- see thaler from 1613

Achtbrüdertaler from 1613; Johann Ernst and his seven brothers in armor, front with tendril ornament, back with chronogram

• Front:
  • The obverse shows the hip pictures of the four older brothers in armor and armband . The orb is in the field above the brothers' heads.
  • Inscription: The inscription corresponds to the first variant. It is broken through by two (below three) instead of one coat of arms. The provocative inscription is missing in the section. It was replaced by a tendril ornament.
• Back:
  • The reverse shows the hip pictures of the four younger brothers. The type of representation corresponds to the front.
  • Inscription: The inscription corresponds to the first variant. It is broken through by two (below three) instead of one coat of arms. In contrast to the first variant, the inscription 8.FRAT (res): DUC (es): SAXON (iae): / I UL (iaci): C L (iviae): M ONT (ium) is located above the heads . Translated: Eight brothers, dukes of Saxony, Jülich , Kleve and Berg . In the section there is the inscription: L INEAE V INA = / = RIENSIS / 16 WA 13 (mint master's mark between the year). The highlighted letters make up a chronogram :

I + C + M + L + V = 1 + 100 + 1000 + 50 + 5 = 1156

The year 1156 refers to Heinrich the Lion (1156–1180, † 1195), who also had to fight for the inheritance of his father, Heinrich the Stolzen , Duke of Bavaria (1126–1138, † 1139). His cousin, Staufer King Friedreich I. Barbarossa (1152–1190) only awarded him his ancestral land, Duchy of Bavaria, in 1156 .

Fourth variant 1616–1619

- see thaler from 1619

Achtbrüdertaler from 1619; Johann Ernst and his seven brothers on the front

In contrast to the previously minted thalers, the one minted from 1616 to 1619 shows all eight brothers on the front.

• Front:
  • Johann Ernst standing in the middle in armor, his seven brothers are arranged smaller around him.
  • Inscription: (Reichsapfel) D (ei): G (ratia): IOH (annes): ERN (estus): IVN (ior): DVX: SAX (oniae): IV (liaci): CL (iviae): ET: M (ontium): SVO: ET.TVT (orio): NOM (ine):
    • Translation: By God's grace Johann Ernst the Younger, Duke of Saxony, Jülich, Kleve and Berg, in his name and as guardian .
• Back:
  • Above the 18-piece arms six helmets with crest . The year 16-19 is divided. In the inscription is the Mmz. WA
  • Transcription: FRID (ericus): WILH (elmus): ALBERT (us): JO (hannes): FRID (ericus): ERN (estus): FRID (ericus): WILH (elmus): ET.BERN (ardus): F (ieri): F (ecit)
    • Translation: Friedrich, Wilhelm, Albert, Johann Friedrich, Ernst, Friedrich Wilhelm and Bernhard had [the coin] made.

Coin-historical connections

When Duke Johann von Sachsen-Weimar died in Weimar in 1605 after only two years of reign , he left eight underage sons. For the guardianship was the Emperor Rudolf II. The Electorate of Saxony determined. According to old Saxon law , however, Johann Casimir von Sachsen-Coburg would have been entitled. However, Emperor Maximilian II had denied all descendants of Johann Friedrich II the Middle of Saxony birthright and direct succession (succession, succession to the throne ) because Johann Friedrich II had sided with the outlawed Wilhelm von Grumbach during the Grumbachian Handel . Consequently, the Albertine Electorate of Saxony provided the guardian for the eight underage sons of the Ernestine Duke Johann.

Thaler 1607-1616

From 1607, initially under the tutelage of the Saxon Elector Christian II (1591 / 1601–1611), the eight underage sons of Duke Johann had so-called eight brothers minted. After Christian II's death in 1611, his brother and successor, Elector Johann Georg I (1611–1656) took over the guardianship.

After the death of Christian II, Johann Ernst's mother intended that her eldest son, aged 18, would take over the state government and the guardianship of his underage brothers with her assistance. However, she and her eldest son asked Johann Georg I in vain for release from guardianship:

“When […] Elector Christian (1611) died, the Duchess Dorothea Maria wanted her eldest son to have the emperor's retirement so that he - although only 18 years old - should take over the state government and patronize his younger brothers. Elector Johann Georg I declined the requested consent and cooperation. "

DISCORDIAE / FOMES INIVRIA (translated: injustice kindles discord) was now to be read in the section on the obverse of the thaler from 1612. According to Goldenberg, the saying is an allusion to the extension of the guardianship. According to Johann David Köhler (1736), Lothar Koppe (2007) and others, however, the saying refers to the so-called priority dispute (precedent dispute) between the two dynasties of Weimar and Altenburg. Since the inscription could be seen as a provocation, the brothers had it replaced by an ornament that same year.

With 8.FRAT (res): DUC (es): SAXON (iae): / IUL (iaci): CL (iviae): MONT (ium) on the reverse of the thalers minted from 1612 to 1616, the sons of John II refer to it indicate that they are entitled to Jülich , Kleve and Berg . Among the 18, instead of the previous seven arms in the inscription, are the five claim crest of the duchies of Cleves, Jülich and Berg, as well as the counties of Mark and Ravensberg .

Claims to the named areas during the Jülich-Klevischen succession dispute (1609–1625) raised among others the Albertine electoral Saxony and the Ernestine duchies , including Saxony-Weimar. However, the enforcement of Saxony's claims failed. What remained was only the addition of the title and coat of arms around the claim coat of arms.

Thaler 1616-1619

In 1616, Johann Ernst, now 22 years old, appears on the Achtbrüdertaler as the ruling duke and guardian of his brothers who are not yet of legal age:

“Now Johann Ernst entered the legal age of majority in February 1615; but he was only granted the rights of an adult German prince on October 30th. mentioned year […]. [...] The bestowal of the imperial fief by Emperor Matthias [was on] November 15, 1617 [...]. "

In 1619 Friedrich Wilhelm, one of the eight brothers, died. That was also the end of the coinage of the eight brothers.

Köhler's explanation from 1737

Dorothea Maria, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar, had given birth to eleven princes from 1594 to 1604, eight of whom were alive after Johann's death (1605). (19th century painting)

In Johann David Köhler's Historical Coin Amusement , the context of coin history is explained in more detail:

“Hertzog Johannes and his wife Dorothea Maria, Fürstin zu Anhalt from A. 1594. to 1604 produced eleven [eleven] prints one after the other: the same kind of blessed sexual reproduction, you probably won't find anywhere else in a Prince. Home. Of such he left VIII. Alive on his departure from this world; among them the oldest went into the eleventh year. Dreye achieved great fame in the world, as Hertzog Wilhelm, Hertzog Ernst and Hertzog Bernhard: only two have reproduced the family, as Hertzog Wilhelm and Hertzog Ernst and one Johann Friedrich is so out of the way that he too, because of his unprincess. Behavior in the prison in Weimar A. 1628 is said to have had a sudden death. From these 8th Brothers one has many joint and special thalers. "

The so-called eight brothers thalers, referred to by Köhler as eight-headed thalers, were minted in large numbers (except for the “special strike” of 1612). They became rare when these full-value Reichstaler were melted down for the production of inferior country coins , the so-called Kipper coins in the Kipper and Wipper times . (See also: Kursächsische Kippermünzstätten )

“The common ones are the well-known […] and so-called eight-headed thalers. As mean as they were before meal, they are now making themselves scarce: meanwhile most of them have already had their necks broken in the melting pot of the insignificant and shameful vagina, forgotten by honor and duty, in the crucible of the eternally magical, insignificant and shameful vagina . You will probably never be eight young princes any more. Sir, get to see on a thaler. These eight-headed thalers are four-way varieties. "

Köhler's assumption that you will probably never see eight princely “little gentlemen” on a thaler has come true. A picture of eight young princely gentlemen on a taler is unique.

In his Historical Coin Amusement , the eight brothers are divided into four types:

• 1st variety minted 1607–1612
• 2nd variety minted 1612 (with a provocative saying) and 1613–1615 (“on which the dubious signature […] has gone”) - 1613–1616 is correct, since both variants occur in 1616.
• 3rd variety minted 1616–1619
• 4th variety minted 1622/1623 (after the death of Duke Friedrich - but are not eight brothers)

"I. [Variety] from 1607. 1608. 1609. [16] 11. [16] 12. With the older 4th brothers [...] in stiff skirts and coats [...] and with the picture nuts of the 4 younger brothers in completely the same position on the other side. II. [Variety] by A. 1612. […] in breastplates, with armbands, and pointed out flaps; [...]. In the section […]: DISCORDIAE FOMES INIVRIA [translation: injustice kindles discord] which is a replique [answer] to the Altenburg thaler from the same year, with the saying: DISKORDIA PRAECVRSOR RUINAE [translation: disagreement runs before doom ( Tentzel p . 493)], […]. […] One also has thalers with the same stamps, from A. 1613. 1614. 1615. [Note: and 1616] on which, however, the critical signature […] has been removed and the place is filled with flowers and foliage . III. [Variety] by A. 1616. 1618. [16] 19. With the VIII Brothers Bildnuss on the first page [...]. "

The IV. Variety also described by Köhler, however, does not belong to the Eight Brothers Talers. The fourth variety, according to Köhler, "had the 7th brothers, after whom Hertzog Friedrich A. stayed in the Battle of Fleury on August 19th in 1622 , [...] [...]." The minters were only Johann Ernst and five of his Brothers.

According to Johann David Köhler, the above saying DISCORDIAE FOMES INIVRIA does not refer to the extension of the guardianship by Johann Georg I, but to the animosities between the two ducal houses of Saxony-Weimar and Saxony-Altenburg. The saying on the special Achtbrüdertaler, which was minted only in 1612, should therefore be the answer to the Altenburg Taler, which was also minted in 1612, with the slogan DISKORDIA PRAECVRSOR RUINAE. "Gedachter Spruch", so Köhler, "aims at the heavy and protracted precedence dispute that arose between the Altenburg and Weimar A 1605." (precedent dispute = priority dispute) The dispute was so bitter that it even featured in the coin design of the two Ernestine lines Found precipitation.

It is not known whether the provocative slogan on the thaler minted in 1612 refers to the priority dispute between the two Ernestine princely houses (Koppe, Köhler and others) or as a protest aimed at continuing the guardianship of Johann Georg I (Goldenberg). What is certain is that Duke Johann Ernst had to fight for his inheritance. This is even reflected in the chronogram on the thalers from 1612 to 1616.

See also

• Dreibrüdertaler (Kursachsen)
• Pallastaler from Johann Ernst and his five brothers, Reichstaler from Sachsen-Weimar

literature

• ND Nicol, Marian S. More, Fred J. Borgmann: Standard Catalog of German Coins 1601 to present 1995
• Heinz Fengler, Gerd Gierow, Willy Unger: transpress Lexikon Numismatics , Berlin 1976
• Helmut Kahnt: The large lexicon of coins from A to Z , Regenstauf 2005
• Carl Christoph Schmieder: Addendum to the concise dictionary of the entire coinage. Halle and Berlin 1815
• Johann David Köhler: Historischer Münz-Amustigung Volume 9, published weekly in 1729 , 1737
• JS Verlag and JG Gruber: General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts in alphabetical ... , Leipzig 1842
• Lothar Koppe: The coins of the House of Saxony-Weimar 1573-1918 , Regenstauf 2007
• Christoph Gottfried Eckardt (Ed.): Auserlesees Thaler-Cabinet ... , Königsberg, 1730, p. 95, no. 308

Remarks

1. ↑ The Abbreviatur character ꝰ is the Unicode character U + A770 modifier letter us , see: Michael Everson et al .: Proposal to add medievalist characters to the UCS. (PDF; 3.8 MB) ISO / IEC JTC1 / SC2 / WG2, January 30, 2006, p. 6 , accessed on January 31, 2020 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Heinz Fengler, ...: transpress Lexikon Numismatics , 1976, p. 11
2. ^ ND Nicol, ...: Standard Catalog ... 1995, p. 725
3. ^ Münzkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin 2 ducats 1608, Saalfeld
4. ↑ coinarchives: 3 ducats 1608, Saalfeld
5. ↑ Luise Grundmann (Ed.): Saalfeld and the Thuringian Slate Mountains: a regional history ... , Leipzig 2001, in it p. 73: Obersächsische Kreismünzstätte Saalfeld since 1571, founded in 1551
6. ↑ Helmut Kahnt: Das große Münzlexikon ... , 2005, p. 11
7. ^ Lothar Koppe: The coins of the House of Saxony-Weimar ... , 2007, p. 14, dates
8. ↑ coingallery: saying, Ref .: Lev Goldberg 11/2006
9. ^ Carl Christoph Schmieder: Addendum to the concise dictionary ... , 1815, p. 3: "a special blow from 1612"
10. ↑ coingallery: Chronogram, Ref .: Lev Goldenberg 11/2006,
11. ↑ Carl Christoph Schmieder: Addendum to the concise dictionary ... , 1815, p. 2: TVT (orio): NOM (ine)
12. ^ Carl Christoph Schmieder: Addendum to the concise dictionary ... , 1815, p. 2: F (ieri): F (ecit)
13. ↑ Lothar Koppe: The coins of the house of Sachsen-Weimar ... , 2007, p. 14: The emperor had denied all descendants of Johann Friedrich sec. The right to birthright and direct succession.
14. ^ Lothar Koppe: The coins of the House of Saxony-Weimar… , 2007, p. 14: Guardianship
15. ↑ JS Verlag and JG Gruber: Allgemeine Encyclopädie ... , 1842, p. 246.
16. ↑ coingallery: Ref .: Lev. Goldenberg, 11/2006: Accordingly , the ruling relates to the unlawful extension of guardianship
17. ^ Carl Christoph Schmieder: Addendum to the concise dictionary ... , 1815, p. 3
18. ^ Lothar Koppe: The coins of the House of Saxony-Weimar ... , 2007, p. 16
19. ↑ JS Verlag and JG Gruber: Allgemeine Encyclopädie ... , 1842, p. 246: Granting of the imperial loan on November 15, 1617
20. ^ Johann David Köhler: Historischer Münz-Amustigung Volume 9, 1737, P. XVII, No. XIV
21. ^ Johann David Köhler: Historischer Münz-Amustigung Volume 9, 1737, S. XVII, No. XV
22. ^ Johann David Koehler: Historischer Münz-Amustigung Volume 9, 1737, pp. XVII – XVIII, No. XV
23. ^ Acsearch: Johann Ernst and his five brothers, 1622–1626, Reichstaler 1622
24. ↑ Lothar Koppe: The coins of the House of Saxony-Weimar ... , 2007, p. 14/16
25. ↑ Johann David Köhler: Historischer Münz-Amustigung Volume 9, 1737, p. XI
26. ^ Lothar Koppe: The coins of the House of Saxony-Weimar ... , 2007, p. 16

Web links

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