Trading towns need stable coins to carry out their business. But in the course of the 16th century the major trading coins of the time, the Rhenish and the south German goldguldens, had been more and more debased. As a result they were traded according to their weight. This had particular impact on Nuremberg, a city ideally located for trade between Bohemia and the Rhineland. Hence Nuremberg began to issue a new gold coin during the first half of the 17th century: the ducat. A series of these ducats depicted the Lamb of God and was thus colloquially called lamb-ducats. The lamb was mostly standing on an orb or on a bible carrying a banner with the inscription PAX (peace). These lamb ducats were very popular as christening gifts.