¼ Ducat - Christian Ernest and Francis Josias

Christian Ernest died in 1745, leaving Francis Josias as sole ruler of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld — making the joint-reign issues of the early 1740s a brief window. Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was itself a product of the 1735 partition of Saxe-Coburg, one of the innumerable dynastic subdivisions that kept the German states perpetually fragmented. Quarter ducats of this type were struck in tiny quantities, serving largely as presentation or gift pieces rather than trade currency.