3 Kreuzer    (sold for $20.0)

1650, Austria, Archduke Ferdinand Charles. Silver 3 Kreuzer (Groschen) Coin.aXF!

Mint Year: 1650 Reference: KM-852. Denomination: 3 Kreuzer Mint Place: Hall (Tyrol, Austria) Condition: Cleaned, otherwise about XF! Diameter: 21mm Weight: 1.57gm Material: Silver

Obverse: Crowned, draped and armored bust of Ferdinand Charles (with long hair) right, splitting date (1650) n fields. Legend: FERDIN CAROL : D : G : ARCHID : AV Reverse: Rosette above two shields of Austria / Tyrol. Rosette above, denomination (3) inside circle below. Legend: * DVX . BVRGVND : (3) COM : TYROLIS

Ferdinand Charles was an absolutist ruler, did not call any diet   after 1648 and had his chancellor Wilhelm Biener executed illegally in   1651 after a secret trial. On the other hand, he was a lover of music:   Italian opera was performed in his court.

Ferdinand Charles (17 May 1628 – 30 December 1662) was the Archduke of Further Austria, including Tyrol, from 1646 to 1662.

He was only 4 years old when his father, Leopold V,   died in 1632. He ruled with his mother as regent until 1646 when he came   of age (18) and took sole control of his inheritance. As the younger   Tyrolean line, he was loyal to his family and took his place in the Holy   Roman Empire behind his cousins of the elder line, first under   Ferdinand IV and then under Leopold VI (as emperors known as Ferdinand   III and Leopold I.) His mother and he were aided by the able and   experienced advisor, minister Wilhelm Bienner whom, under the regency   and under Ferdinand Charles, served as the chancellor of Tyrol.

Bienner had served under the Elector of Bavaria,   Maximilian I and was later appointed by Emperor Ferdinand II to be a   judge at the Imperial Court. He was assigned to Archduke Leopold V of   Tyrol as an advisor and later as court chancellor under Claudia   de'Medici. He continued in this capacity under the Archduke Ferdinand   Charles.

As chancellor of Tyrol, Bienner not only   strengthened and reaffirmed Tyrol's right to territories who looked to   secede but he also took measures to stem official corruption. He was an   able mediator and astute minister in foreign affairs who was often   called on to settle disputes, both between internal factions as well as   disputes between Austria and other nations. Through diplomacy he   prevented a French invasion of the Münstertal in Switzerland and he   prevented the secession of the ecclesiastical principalities Brixen and   Trient by enforcing their contractual ties to Tyrol.

Bienner also took measures to strengthened the power   of the sovereign, a move that might have strengthened his position as   chancellor to the court but eventual lead to his downfall and demise.   Placing greater powers in the hands of the hereditary monarch made him   unpopular with powerful men who would in turn see their own powers   diminished, and the young Archduke soon proved ill-suited to wield such   power. An all too familiar story of the spoiled prince and the follies   of inherited power.