Medal - Charles V

Reverse

Austrian-Burgundian coat of arms supported by a nimbate double-headed eagle. 13 crowned coats of arms around, clockwise: Kingdom of Sardinia, Kingdom of Cordoba, Kingdom of Corsica, Kingdom of Murcia, Kingdom of Jaén, Kingdom of the Algarve, Algeciras, Mazarrón, Menorca, Kingdom of Majorca, Kingdom of the Canary Islands, and Kingdom of Gibraltar.

Script: Latin

Lettering:
15 21
N

Unabridged legend: Norimberga

Translation: Nuremberg

Engraver: Hans Krafft

Edge

Plain

Comment

The medal celebrates the planned Reichstag in Nuremberg and was planned as a present for Emperor Chrles V. When he was crowned in Aachen in 1520, it was decided that the first Reichstag should take place in Nuremberg. In anticipation of this event, the city arranged for Albrecht Dürer to redesign the walls of the town hall and to produce a presentation medal, of which 100 silver medals were to be presented to the emperor. When an epidemic broke out in Nuremberg and the Reichstag had to be relocated to Worms, 167 examples of the medal had already been minted. In 1537, the pieces were melted down except for a few copies. In 1613, there were still 24 pieces including the embossing dies in the town hall archives. At the beginning of the 19th century, when trying to make new impressions from the original dies, the dies broke.