Owner Comments:
Yesterday, in the Royal Palace, behind closed doors, the President of the Chamber of Deputies Sebastian von Schrenk met with the Supreme king, His rightful Majesty the Ludwig I of Bavaria. The conversation flowed, of course, regarding the Parliamentary session, that had originally been intended to take place on the 1st of March in the year 1831. “Lookie here, my dear Sebastian!” exclaimed the king as he slid a paper over to the Head of the Government. The paper had inscribed upon it some kind of unintelligible drawing, vaguely resembling a lion holding a shield. “What’s this, your Highness?” asked von Schrenck, who rarely had a personal audience with the king, and for this reason felt not completely sure of himself… “This is what I want to see in our Parliament – nah, this is what even our Great Maximilian, Papa Max, wanted to see when he ratified the Constitution of 26th May 1818 – our lion Bavaria, ..resembling a lion, being defended from enemies through our Constitution, our Laws and our Parliament which is the very lens of Law and Culture! I even fitted onto the shield a famous semblance of Horatio – Justus et propositi tenax – Just and Firm – how a TRUE monarch should act, freely giving power to the Parliament, but.. believe me, my dear Sebastian.. I would greatly desire for you to, so to say.. scratch MY, erm, kingly back, ha ha - in return.. to help ME to reinstate sacred stability and lawfulness in Our Country! I need L A W S that will unite the Catholics and the Protestants, the Artistocracy and the Christians, the army and the people, bless their hearts!” – and with this the king shot a direct and uncompromising stare straight into the Head of the Parliament – “I hope that you understand.”
.. “Of course, your Highness!” At once the von Schrenck felt himself embarrassed, uncomfortable, and truly corpse-like in the searing beam of the king’s no-nonsense laser look. “..but this will not be easy. Our 2-nd Constitution, of course, looks far from completion. Although the Protestants equalized their rights with the Catholics, the government still refuses many of our own deputies their own official powers referring to religious preferences of creed, our army diligently swears by the New Constitution. But please don’t worry, Your Highness! We have already prepared a brochure of new laws in print, a new Cabinet of Ministers has already stepped up to the job, and they’re currently perusing the new budget! I’m certain that our new Landtag will be able to handle any disagreements that may arise between the Lower and Upper Chambers and will arrange for the newest and best conditions for the flourishing of our dear Bavaria!”
“Well, excellent!” Ludwig arose, clearly intending to conclude the meeting, all the while saying,
“I do sincerely hope that the liberal Parliament specifically will manage to solve the numerous sufferings and problems in our country! And I, as a true liberal Monarch, ha, ha, will once again repeat to You the immortal Horatian epithet – J U S T U S E T P R O P O S I T I T E N A X – justice and perseverance !! In fact, this sketch of a lion with a shield will adorn our new celebratory Taler, in dear dedication to our New, Just, and liberal Parliament!”
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Unfortunately, the dreams of king Ludwig regarding a just and unified Parliament did not, in fact, materialize into reality. The liberal government of Eduard von Schrenk could not solve all of the numerous contradictions, the new projects on laws - including the law as it had already at that time appeared in print – unable to handle ANY criticism, any and all liberal decision-making as enacted by the Lower Chamber immediately hit the brakes in the Governmental Advisory chamber. The deputies even cut financial allocations to the Ministry of War and even to the upkeep of the royal palace – this greatly angered the king. And in the end, king Ludwig rejected the liberal scheme of governmental organization and planning, which of course led to cataclysmic opposition in the whole of Parliament. But this already spells a different story for a new and upcoming history in the not-too-distant future.
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German Talers since 1800 by John S. Davenport.
Bavaria, King Ludwig I Series (1825 - 1848).
Taler 1831, LEGISLATURE.
Davenport 567, KM 760, Thun 59, AKS 126, J.41.
Commemorative - for the opening of Local Legislature.
Obverse: Head of the Ludwig I to the right, LUDWIG I KOENIG VON BAYERN. ZEHN EINE FEINE MARK.
Reverse: Lion holding shield. Legend - GERECHT UND BEHARRLICH. 1831 below.
NGC MS 62.
28.0600 g., 0.83300 Silver, 0.7515 oz. ASW.
Patchy champagne toning, more on obverse, cameo strike on reverse with some hairlines on the field.