1 Ducat - Frederick August I

Frederick August I — better known as Augustus the Strong — converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism in 1697 solely to secure the Polish crown, a transaction that scandalized the Protestant Saxon estates and reshaped the electorate's diplomatic alignment for generations. These ducats were struck across the early years of his reign while Saxony was grinding through the Great Northern War, during which Charles XII of Sweden occupied Dresden's sphere of pressure and Augustus was temporarily stripped of the Polish throne between 1706 and 1709.

The .986 fine gold standard held firm throughout, sourced largely from Saxon Erzgebirge mining operations that had underwritten Wettin coinage for centuries.