Owner Comments:
Purchased on 12/26/2011.
I imaged this coin using "axial lighting" to bring out the beautiful blues and rainbow tones on the periphery of the coin. When I purchased this coin, I had no idea (based on the seller's images) that it exhibited such wonderful toning. It was a pleasant surprise when I received it in hand!
==========================================
The horse is the leaping Brunswick horse, also known as the Saxon Steed, and dates to many hundred years prior to this coin. The legend "Nunquam Retrorsum" translates roughly as "never look back" or "never retreat". The large cipher "C" with the crown above represents Charles, and is surrounded by a legend which translates as "By the grace of God, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg".
This coin was minted during the leadership of Charles, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Bevern line) and the Prince of Wolfenbüttel from 1735 until his death. Charles was born in 1713, the eldest son of Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He fought under Prince Eugene of Savoy against the Ottoman Empire before inheriting the Principality of Wolfenbüttel from his father in 1735. On the suggestion of his priest, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Jerusalem, in 1745 he founded the Collegium Carolinum, an institute of higher education which is today known as the Technical University of Brunswick. He also hired Gotthold Ephraim Lessing as the librarian for the Bibliotheca Augusta, the ducal library.
Charles attempted to promote the economic development of his state; for example, he founded the Fürstenberg Porcelain Company, and he installed mandatory fire insurance. However, he did not manage to keep the state finances in check. As a consequence, in 1773 his eldest son Charles William Ferdinand took over government.