1 Ducat - George II Harz - Mining Ducat

Harz Mountain ducats were struck from silver-extracted gold — a byproduct of the lead-silver smelting process at the Clausthal and Zellerfeld mines, where trace gold was recovered from the ore and delivered directly to the mint as a mark of regional production pride. George II, as both Elector of Hanover and King of Great Britain, maintained tight control over Harz mining revenues, which fed directly into Hanoverian state finances largely independent of the British crown. These pieces were never intended for general commerce.

Müseler's exhaustive cataloguing of German mining coins establishes several die variants across the 1730–1756 run at Clausthal mint.