1⁄24 Thaler - Joanna Elisabeth and Frederick Augustus

Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorf is far better remembered as the mother of Catherine the Great than as co-ruler of Anhalt-Zerbst, a minor principality she administered alongside her largely ineffectual husband Frederick Augustus. She spent most of her time away from Zerbst — first engineering her daughter's placement at the Russian imperial court in 1744, then meddling in Prussian and French diplomatic affairs until her death in 1760. That a coin bearing her name was struck at all reflects the formal co-regency structure of the principality rather than any active role she played in its governance.