1/2 Grote - Paul Frederick August

Paul Frederick August ruled Oldenburg from 1829 until his death in 1853, a reign spent navigating the duchy's complicated relationship with the German Confederation and, later, the revolutionary pressures of 1848. The Grote was a north German petty currency unit with roots stretching back to medieval Bremen, and Oldenburg's retention of it into the mid-nineteenth century reflects the duchy's stubborn monetary conservatism at a time when German states were beginning to rationalize their currency systems ahead of what would eventually become the Thaler conventions.

KM#176 is among the last copper issues of this denomination before Oldenburg's monetary alignment shifted under pressure from neighboring states.