Coin (Thaler, Annaberg) Showing John Frederick, Elector of Saxony
Unknown Artist
1541
Medium
Silver
Dimensions
Diam. 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm); thickness 1/8 in. (0.3 cm); Wt. 1.1 oz. (31.2 g)
Classification
Miscellaneous-Coins and Medals
Culture
German
Department
Arms and Armor
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Bashford Dean, 1922
Accession Number
22.122.10
Tags
Art Historical Context
This gleaming silver Thaler, minted in 1541 in Annaberg, Saxony bears the portrait of John Frederick Elector of Saxony (1503–1554), a pivotal figure in the Protestant Reformation. As ruler of one of the Holy Roman Empire's most powerful territories, John Frederick championed Lutheranism and led the Schmalkaldic against Emperor Charles V. Annaberg, a booming silver-mining center in the Erzgebirge mountains, produced these coins from locally sourced ore, making the Thaler a symbol of Saxony's economic might and the elector's authority. With a diameter of just 1 5/8 inches and weighing 1.1 ounces...