1 Goldgulden - Maximilian IV Joseph of Bayern

Bavaria's 1803 Goldgulden marks the moment Maximilian IV Joseph was navigating his alliance with Napoleon, which would pay off dramatically the following year when French pressure elevated Bavaria from electorate to kingdom. This coin was struck under the authority of a state that, politically speaking, was mid-transformation — the old Holy Roman framework dissolving around it.

The .770 fineness is characteristic of south German gold coinage of the period, well below the near-pure standard of contemporary French issues.