1 Raitpfennig Bohemia Copper Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor(1503 ...

1541-1563, Bohemia. Copper Raitpfennig “Ruprecht Puellacher” Coin

Mint Period: 1541-1563 Mint Place: Joachimsthal Reference:  Neumann 28645, Donebauer 2379. Denomination: Raitpfennig (Counter Token Coin)  Condition: Crudely struck as usual, corroded surfaces, otheriwse F-aVF! Mint Masters: Ruprecht Puellacher (R-P, official mint master in Joachimsthal until 1563) & Anna Puellacherin (A-P) Material: Copper Diameter: 24mm Weight: 3.13gm

Obverse: Helmetted coat-of-arms (with a camel) of Ruprecht Puellacher with his initials (R-P) in fields. German legend around. Legend: OFT . RAITTEN . M .  GVT . FREVND .   ("Often riding with a good friend.")   Reverse: Helmetted coat-of-arms (with an bird) of Anna Pullacherin with his initials (A-P) in fields. German legend around. Legend: HER . VERGIB . - VNS . VNSE SCH ("God forgive us our sins.")

Jáchymov , until 1945 known also by its German name of Sankt Joachimsthal or Joachimsthal (meaning “Saint Joachim's Valley”; German: Thal, or Tal in modern orthography) is a spa town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has a population of about 2,500. The town has a long mining tradition; at first silver was mined here. In 1534, it was the second most populous town in the Kingdom of Bohemia. The silver Joachimsthaler coins minted there since the 16th century became known in German as Thaler for short, which via the Dutch daalder or daler is the etymological origin of the currency name “dollar”. The Svornost mine (1525) is the oldest mine still in use in Europe, it is also the first and for a long time the only mine in the world where radium was mined.

Ferdinand I (Spanish: Fernando I) (10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Also, he often served as Charles' representative in Germany and developed encouraging relationships with German princes.

The key events during his reign were the contest with the Ottoman Empire, which in the 1520s began a great advance into Central Europe, and the Protestant Reformation, which resulted in several wars of religion. Ferdinand was able to defend his realm and make it somewhat more cohesive, but he could not conquer the major part of Hungary. His flexible approach to Imperial problems, mainly religious, finally brought more result than the more confrontational attitude of his brother. Ferdinand’s motto was Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus: “Let justice be done, though the world perish”.