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      Contemporaries in the Holy Roman Empire      

Henry the Younger,   Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, 1514-1568
Duke Henry the Younger was looked upon as unscrupulous and a man of action. In 1525, his involvement in the Battle of Frankenhausen was decisive to the defeat of the peasants' uprising. He served the emperor as general in Spain and Italy until 1528.
Henry was married to a Württemberg duchess since 1515 but he also had a mistress, Eva von Trott, a lady-in-waiting. He organised her fake burial which fooled no one as they had ten children. Scandal overtook in the end and numerous protestant pamphlets attacked and made fun of the duke. Martin Luther called him a tomfool and buffoon.
In 1545, Henry was arrested and kept prisoner by his protestant opponents of the Schmalkalic League. He was only released after the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547. In 1553, Maurice of Saxony and Henry defeated Albert Alcibiades in a bloody battle near Sievershausen, in which his two elder sons died. Henry was a strict opponent of the Reformation but became more tolerant as he grew older and he did not oppose the succession of his protestant son Julius.

Mining had regained importance in the Harz Mountains. As had been the case in Tyrol and the Ore Mountains (Saxony/Bohemia) before, the most profitable way to use the abundant silver was to process it into large silver coins. Duke Henry the Younger had the Riechenberg monastery near Goslar fortified and a mint built there.


Thaler 1531, Riechenberg.     Ø 40 mm, 29,1 g.     Welter 398; Davenport 9038.
Obv.:   ·HENRIcus·IVNIor·DEI·GRAtia·BRVNsvicensis:ET[ligiert]·LVNEburgensisDux
"Heinrich der Jünger, von Gottes Gnaden Herzog von Braunschweig und Lüneburg"
Helmeted square shield with the coats of arms: Brunswick, Lüneburg, Eberstein and Homburg.

Rev.:   IVSTVS·NON·DERELIQVITVR·ETC·1531 + [Mz.]   "Der Gerechte wird nicht verlassen" ["The righteous shall not forsake"]
Warrior with shield and raised sword sitting on a pedestal holding down a lion with his feet.
This first Lower Saxon thaler presents Henry as a Roman warrior confident of victory, in keeping with his motto, the legend on the reverse. Henry here calls himself "the younger" in contrast to his father Henry VIII, who was now called "the elder".


Cast silver medal 1539.     Ø 20 mm, 4,50 g.     Brockmann 28; Leschhorn p.118, fig.133.
Specimen in the coin cabinet, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum

Obv:  I⁎G⁎G⁎ - H⁎I⁎A⁎ - M⁎S⁎S⁎
"In Gots Gewalt hab ich all mein Sach stallt" [In God's power I have stalled all my things]
Bust with beret and necklace to the left.

Rev:   ⁎HENRICVS⁎Z - ⁎B⁎V⁎L⁎H⁎39⁎  -  Helmeted four-field coat of arms.


1/4 Taler 1539, Goslar or Riechenberg.     Ø 29 mm, 6,85 g.   Welter -, see Dav.9041 (Thaler).
Obv.: HENRICVS·D·GRA·BRUN·ET·LVNE·D·
Rev.:   NON·VIDI·IVSTVM·DERELICTVm:   "I havent seen abandoned a just person"
From 1539 onwards, Duke Henry had his portrait set on thalers, 1/2 and 1/4 thalers, as had become customary among the princes of the Renaissance.


Thaler 1541, Riechenberg.     Ø 40 mm.     Welter 389; Davenport 9043.
Obv.:   ♢·HENRICus·♢Dei:Gratia·BR♢RVNSviecum:Et·♢LVNeBDurgum
with the arms (♢) of Brunswick (2 lions), Lüneburg, Eberstein and Homburg.
Effigy with barett and necklace with pendant.
Rev.:   ·NON·VIDI·IVSTVM·DERELICTVM·
"I have not yet seen a righteous man forsaken"
Naked Wild Man with uprooted tree trunk; date 41 between his feet.
The Wild Man is a legendary and fearsome figure, colossal, naked and hairy, often shown with leafage for a loincloth and holding an uprooted tree trunk. When mining was resumed in the Harz Mountains in 1529, miners from the Ore Mountains were recruited. They introduced the legend of the Wild Man. Eventually, the Wild Man became a symbol for the Harz Mountains, and the dukes of Brunswick minted "Wild-Man coins" for centuries.


Thaler 1547.     Ø 40 mm.     Welter 387; Dav.9044.
Obv.:   *HENRICVS·D·GRA·BRVNS·ET·LVNEB·DVx
Rev.:   ♢IN·GOTS·♢GEWAlt·H♢Ab·Ich·Mein·Sach♢G·STALT· / DER·HA - TS·GEFVgt - ·DAS·MI - R·GENVgt·   = "In Gottes Gewalt hab ich meine Sache gestellt, der hats gefügt, das mir es genügt"
["I have placed my cause in God's power, he has decreed that it is enough for me"]
The new motto initially required a double-line transcription on the reverse.


Thaler 1549.     Ø 40 mm, 29,2 g.     Welter 391; Davenport 9046.
Obv.:   ♢·HENRI·cus♢Dei·Gratia·BR♢VNSvicensis·Et·♢LVNEBurgensis·
(A stamp defect extends over the forehead and the beret.)

Rev.:   IN·GOTS·GeWALT·HAB·Ich·GeSTALT· / DEr·Hats·GEfügt - Das·Mir·GeNügt·
In the Treaty of Riechenberg in 1552, ducal supremacy in mining and metallurgy was imposed on Goslar. The duke moved his mint from Riechenberg to the town of Goslar, where the town itself could continue to operate its own mint.


Thaler (24 Groschen) n.d. (1555), Goslar.     Ø 40 mm, 28,75 g.   Welter 393; Dav.9049.
Obv.:   *HENRIC*D*GR*DVX*BRVNS*ET*LVNEBVR* (mm.)     ET ligated
Bust of the Duke between Z - 4 (24 Groschen).

Rev.:   I*GOT*GE*H*I*GS*D*H*GEFV*D*MG*   Motto as before, more abbreviated.
Two wild men with tree trunks hold the helmet with the Guelph horse as decoration above the squared escutcheon. Lateral spaces are filled with decoration according to medieval custom.
This thaler of 24 groschen was minted within the framework of the Braunschweig minting cooperative founded in 1555. This was directed against the Goslar "Mariengroschen", which was constantly being reduced in value and was to be replaced by a new "Fürstengroschen".


Reichsguldiner n. d. (1560), Goslar.     Ø 39 mm.     Welter 389; Dav. 18.
Obv.:  HEI - NRich (1) ·D·G· (2) DV - X·BRuN· - Et· (3) LVneburg·(4)
in between the arms of Brunswick (1), Lüneburg (2), Homburg (3) and Eberstein (4)
effigy with barret and necklace with the order of the Fleece,
below the initials of:   In Gottes Gewalt Habe Ich Gestalt | Der Hats Gefüget Das Mir Genüget

Rev.:   ‡ FERDINANDI·IMPE·AVGV·P·F·DECRETO
Wild Man with loincloth holds a tree trunk with roots in one hand and in the other a shield with double eagle and the imperial orb from which the valency 60 has been erased.
This imperial guldiner was minted after the 3rd imperial mint order (Augsburg, 1559) and equalled 60 Kreuzer. The legend on the reverse was specified:   FERNANDI IMP. AUGUSTI P. F. DECRETO   with P.F.DECRETO ("... by order of ..."). The mint order also prescibed the double eagle and the orb with the valency of 60. It is unusual that the double eagle does not take up the frame completley but makes room for the Wild Man.
The coin cabinets of Berlin, Brunswick and Hanover hold pieces which still show the valency because they were withdrawn from circulation at an early date. The valency was frequently erased from pieces that remained in circulation because it no longer corresponded to the devalued Kreuzer of later times.


Thaler 1562, Goslar.     Ø 41 mm, 28,80 g.     Welter 399; Dav.9051.
Obv.:   HENRICus Dei GRatia DVX B - RVNSvievum Et LVNEBVRgensis ‡
"Henry, by the grace of God, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg ‡ (mm.)"
Effigy with cap and order of the Golden Fleece between year date 6 - 2.
Rev.: IN GOTs GEWalt Hab Ich (mein Sach) GeSTalt - Der Hat's GEFügt Dass Mir's Genügt
"In God have I placed my trust and he has ordained so that it satisfies me."
Quartered arms (above: Brunswick & Lüneburg; below: Everstein & Homburg) with helmet and crest.
The Golden Fleece on the order necklace surrounds the arms.
A wild man, symbol for the Harz region, holds the arms.
The first thalers with Henry's effigy show a necklace with pendant (see the coin above). The necklace with the Order of the Golden Fleece only appears on thalers minted since 1557, and it is shown on both sides of the coin. Henry had been awarded the order in 1555, and he must have been hugely proud of it.


Reichstaler (24 Groschen) 1568, Goslar.     Ø 41 mm, 29,30 g.   Welter 396; Dav.9052.
Obv.:   * HENRIC*D*GR*D - V*BRVNS*E*LV - NE
Bust of the Duke and Wild Man holding squared shield surrounded by order chain.
Rev.:   MAXIMILIANVS*DEI*GR*IMPE*SEM*AVG*   Titularity of the reigning emperor.
Double-headed eagle, orb with value '24' on the chest, crown above between date 6 - 8.
The obverse unites the three pictorial motifs that were previously distributed on both sides of the coin: Portrait, Wild Man and Coat of Arms with Order Chain. The reverse shows for the first time the crowned and nimbed double-headed eagle, the symbol of the imperial coins.
At the Imperial Diet in Augsburg in 1566, the thalers issued by the silver-rich mints according to the Saxon mint were finally recognised as "imperial thalers". They were minted according to the mintage rule "9 pieces from the fine Cologne mark [233.856 g] and 8 pieces from the rough mark". Their nominal weight was therefore 233.856/8=29.23 g. With a silver content of 8/9=888.89 ‰ they should contain 233.856/9=25.98 g of fine silver. Their nominal weight still corresponded to that of the first Saxon guilder groschen of 1500. However, the fineness had dropped from 15 lots = 937.5 ‰ to 14 lots 4 grains = 888.89 ‰.


Goldgulden 1558, Goslar.     Ø 22 mm, 3,24 g.   Welter 384; Friedb.625.
HEN·IVN·D· - G·D·B·E·L·58   //   ♢In Gott's·Gewalt ♢Hab - Ich's ♢;GESstalt·♢
This representative gold coin is only known with the date 1558. Both sides of the coin show the Order of the Fleece with the chain of the Order. The depiction of Fortuna with a curved sail on the reverse of the coin is unusual. This coin, which was not intended for circulation, was probably first created under the succeeding Duke Julius.


One-sided cast lead medal 1568.    Ø 68 mm.  Brockmann 32; Leschhorn p.119, fig.136.
Probably created on the occasion of the duke's death on 11 June 1568.

VGGHIHZ - BVL. (= Von Gottes Gnaden Heinrich der Jüngere, Herzog Zu Braunschweig Und Lüneburg)
half-length portrait in armour with laurel wreath in the hair, on the chest the chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece, with battle axe in the left hand, in the field the date (15)68.

Ref.:
• Günther Brockmann, Die Medaillen der Welfen, vol.1, Linie Wolfenbüttel, Cologne 1985
• Wolfgang Leschhorn, Braunschweigische Münzen und Medaillen, Brunswick 2010, p.102 ff
• Rolf Schneider, Heinrich der Jüngere 1514-1568, money trend 2/1992, p.11-22

upgraded 6.2023
Thanks to the free version of DeepL translator www.deepl.com !

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