1/8 Thaler - Frederick August I

Frederick August I — better known as Augustus the Strong — was simultaneously Elector of Saxony and, from 1697, elected King of Poland as Augustus II. Maintaining two thrones demanded extraordinary expenditure, and Saxon minting output during 1704–1705 was directly shaped by the financial pressures of the Great Northern War, which had brought Swedish forces under Charles XII deep into Polish-Saxon territory. Augustus was effectively stripped of the Polish crown by Charles in 1704, making these issues products of a court fighting for political survival.

The Albertinian Dresden mint was the primary source for fractional silver of this type.