1⁄24 Thaler - Frederick III

Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was among the smallest of the Ernestine duchies, yet 1762 placed it squarely in the financial wreckage of the Seven Years' War. Frederick III had maintained a precarious neutrality while neighboring territories were stripped bare by Prussian and Austrian requisitions. Billon coinage of this period across the German states was frequently debased well below nominal standards — the war had devastated silver supplies, and mints adapted accordingly.

Steguweit's catalog remains the authoritative reference for Gotha issues, and the Slg. Merse collection number suggests this piece has a documented pedigree through one of the more systematic regional holdings assembled in the twentieth century.