1 Ducat - Charles Theodore Silver pattern strike, Reign

Charles Theodore became Elector Palatine in 1743 at seventeen, and Mannheim — his residence city — moved quickly to mark the new reign. This silver pattern of a gold ducat denomination was almost certainly struck for presentation purposes rather than any circulation intent; producing pattern strikes in contrasting metals was standard Rhenish court practice for documenting new coinage proposals to the elector's treasury. The Slg. Memmesheimer reference places it among a documented run of Mannheim presentation pieces, very few of which reached even small distribution.