1 Spitzgroschen - Ernest, Albert and William III

Features

Issuer Electorate of Saxony (Albertinian Line) (German States)
Prince elector Ernest (Ernst) (1464-1486)
Duke Albert III (Albrecht III) (1464-1500)
Prince William III (1445-1482)
Type Standard circulation coin
Year 1475
Value 1 Spitzgroschen = 1⁄16 Pfennige = ½ Groschen
Currency Pfennig (1356-1492)
Composition Silver
Weight 1.66 g
Diameter 21.5 mm
Shape Round (irregular)
Technique Hammered
Orientation Coin alignment ↑↓
Demonetized Yes
Number
N#
80029
References Krug Mei# 1514,
Gerhard Krug; 1974. Die meissnisch-sächsischen Groschen 1338 bis 1500. VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin, Germany.
Levinson# I-148
Robert A. Levinson; 2007. The Early Dated Coins of Europe, 1234-1500. The Coin and Currency Institute, Clifton, New Jersey, United States.

Obverse

Shield of Saxony

Script: Latin (uncial)

Lettering: E W A D G DVCES SX TV L MARTIS

Lettering (regular font): E W A D G DVCES SX TV L MARTIS

Reverse

Arms in trilobate circle

Script: Latin (uncial)

Lettering: GROSSVS NOVVS MARTINIS L5

Lettering (regular font): GROSSVS NOVVS MARTINIS L5

Mints

Leipzig, Germany
Zwickau, Germany

Comments

Frey#162

Ernst was founder of the Ernestine line of Saxon princes, and a direct patrilineal ancestor of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was the second son (but fourth in order of birth) of the eight children of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony and Margaret of Austria, sister of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor. The death of his older brother Frederick (1451) made him the new heir apparent to the position of Elector of Saxony.
In 1455 Ernst was kidnapped, along with his brother Albert, by the knight Kunz von Kaufungen an episode famous in German history as the "Prinzenraub" (i. e. The Stealing of the Princes). In 1464, he succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony, and annexed Thuringia in 1482, and three years later (Treaty of Leipzig, 1485) shared his territory with his brother Albert, until he arranged the division of the common possession. According to the Treaty of Leipzig he received an area around Wittenberg, the southern Thuringian part, the Vogtland and parts of the Pleissnerland. As a residence he selected Wittenberg. He provided for the welfare of the country and introduced the constitution.
One year after the division elector Ernest died in Colditz, at the age of 46 years, the consequence of a fall from a horse.

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Date VG F VF XF AU UNC
ND (1475)  -Cloverleaf- Zwickau Mint
ND (1475)  -Star- Leipzig Mint

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