Taler, noodmunt voor het leger van markgraaf Albert van Brandenburg-Kulmbach, kort na het Verdrag van Passau geslagen, mogelijk tijdens de belegering van Schweinfurt. 1553

This is a Taler, or 'necessity money', made for the army of Margrave Albert of Brandenburg-Kulmbach shortly after the Treaty of Passau. It was possibly minted during the siege of Schweinfurt. Observe the heraldic symbols: the shield divided, the eagle above, and the date, 1553, inscribed below. These are emblems not just of power, but of identity forged in conflict. The eagle, a symbol of imperial authority since Roman times, undergoes a metamorphosis here. The crude fashion in which the coin was made, of base metal roughly stamped, is a symbol of an army's urgent need for funds amidst conflict. Consider too, the psychological weight of such an object. Passed from hand to hand, it embodies both the promise of sustenance and the grim reality of war. This is not merely currency, but a potent relic, charged with the anxieties and aspirations of a bygone era. The symbols on this coin echo through time, a reminder of how necessity shapes not only our economies but our very identities.