1 Ducat - Frederick August I

Frederick August I received the title of King of Saxony in 1806 as a direct reward from Napoleon for Saxon loyalty at Jena — making him the first king in Saxony's history and explaining the abrupt shift in titulature visible across this coinage. The arrangement proved catastrophic by 1813: Saxony fought alongside Napoleon at Leipzig, and when the battle turned, Frederick August was taken prisoner by the Prussians and his kingdom placed under Allied administration.

The post-Leipzig occupation briefly threatened Saxony's existence as a sovereign state entirely, with Prussia pressing for full annexation at the Congress of Vienna.