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Holy Roman Empire, Nuremberg, 1/8 Ducat

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Holy Roman Empire, Nuremberg, 1/8 Ducat (obverse) Holy Roman Empire, Nuremberg, 1/8 Ducat (reverse)

A so-called lamb ducat, a coin that was issued in great numbers in Nuremberg around 1700. That year, after almost 120 years of delay, the Gregorian calendar was introduced in the city. The reason was that Nuremberg, being a protestant town, could not easily accept the new calender that Pope Gregor had introduced in 1582. While the catholic states immediately adopted the innovation, the "papal" resolution caused a storm of protest in the evangelic states, and an age-long conflict on the calendar reform. The evangelic German lands thus adopted the Gregorian calendar only in 1700; it is in use until this day.

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