The 1/8 thaler on the death of Philip Julius

The last years of the Duke's reign were marked by internal difficulties and the problems with collecting the enormous tax (over 83,000 thalers) for the defence of the Reich in connection with the ongoing Thirty Years' War. Philip Julius died unexpectedly at the age of forty in Wolgast and was buried there. Bogislaw XIV became the sole ruler of West Pomerania and commissioned the mint in Franzburg to mint silver commemorative coins for Philip Julius's funeral. The issue included thalers and their double multiples and parts of thalers - 1/4 (orts) and 1/8 (half-orts). It is not known who the author of the stamps was, and the only acorn signature that can be seen refers to the mint master Hans Puls, who held this position in 1622-1625. The parts of the thaler have original designs and slightly differ in details. The ruler's bust is well worked out, preserving the natural facial features. There is an exciting composition on both reverses, namely, narcissi blooming under the influence of sun rays. The symbolism of these flowers goes back to antiquity and is connected to death, eternity and rebirth. A human saw a reflection of the fragile life in nature, and the annual cycle was an analogy of human existence. As the flora awakens to life again in spring, the 'resurrection' of humans will be the victory of life over death. The placement of a lofty sentence around the plant composition may also refer to the Duke's activities, who actively fought against the financial collapse of the state.

Genowefa Horoszko