1 Dreier - John George I

John George I's long reign produced an extraordinary volume of small silver coinage, and the Dreier — worth three pfennigs — was among the most heavily circulated denominations in the Saxon monetary system. The Albertinian line had consolidated control of the Electoral dignity after the Ernestine branch forfeited it following the Schmalkaldic War in 1547, and by the mid-seventeenth century Dresden's mints were operating under severe strain from the financial demands of the Thirty Years' War. John George I's controversial alliance-switching during that conflict, ultimately siding with the Emperor after initially resisting, had direct consequences for Saxon fiscal policy and mint output throughout the 1640s.

The KM#385.3 designation distinguishes this from earlier Dreier varieties of the reign by die characteristics catalogued by Kohl.