The Peace of Westphalia // End of the Thirty Years’ War

Sale: Triton X, Lot: 915. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Monday, 8 January 2007.  Sold For $850. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GERMANY, Nürnberg. AR 3 Ducat Klippe (9.71 g, 12h). Dated 1648 (chronogram on obverse). + / EST / VBI DVX / IESVS PAX / VICTO MARTE / GVBERNAT in six lines; below, coat of arms flanked by branches / CHRISTO DUCE VERBO LUCE, Lamb of God, holding a banner marked PAX, standing left on open Gospels; floral design in corners. Kellner 43; Erlanger I 521; cf. KM 161. EF, toned.

This klippe commemorates the Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years’ War in 1648. The coin’s date takes the form of a chronogram, and can be found by rearranging the capitalized letters on the obverse to form a date in Roman numerals (MDCXXVVVVVIII).