1 Groschen - John Ernest IV Death

John Ernest IV died in January 1729 after a reign of just four years, leaving the duchy under regency for his minor son Franz Josias. Memorial groschen of this type were a well-established Thuringian convention — grief monetized quickly, struck while the court was still in mourning and distributed partly as keepsakes rather than circulating currency. That origin explains why survivors often appear in higher states of preservation than their nominal face value would suggest.