Owner Comments:
Ducat - Design: OBVERSE: Cassocked bust facing right of Friedrich Karl Josef. Legend: FRID•CAR•IOS•AEP•ETEL•MOG•EP•W• The initials “F.S “ at the base of the bust ~ REVERSE: City view of Mainz on the Rhine River with legend “AVREA MOGVNTIA” (Gold from Mainz) above and year MDCCLXXXXV (1795) and mint inspector’s initials “I-A” (Joseph Aatz) below date.
Mint: Mainz
Mintage: ?
References: KM #411 / Fr. 1685
Specifications: Diameter – 21.0mm
Weight – 3.500 g. @ 0.9860 Gold = .1109 oz AGW
Acquired: July 2009
Providence: None
Notes:
? Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate located on the Rhine River. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz (Archbishopric of Mainz) under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire. Up until the twentieth century, Mainz was usually referred to in English as Mayence.
? Friedrich Karl Joseph Reichsfreiherr von Erthal was last electoral prince and archbishop of Mainz from July 18, 1774 to July 4, 1802, shortly before the end of the archbishopric in Reichsdeputationshauptschlus (a law which established a major redistribution of territorial sovereignty within the Empire just prior to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 by Francis II during the Napoleonic Wars)
? This coin is a type commonly referred to as a “city view”, which is a common design theme used in various coins minted by the German States.
? A gorgeous type with superbly detailed reverse. Lovely cameo contrast among the flashy proof-like fields.