Frankfurt struck these gulden during the final years of its existence as a sovereign city-state, a status it had held almost continuously since the medieval period. In 1866, Prussia annexed Frankfurt outright following the Austro-Prussian War, dissolving the Free City entirely and absorbing it into the newly expanded Prussian state. Coins struck in 1862–63 thus belong to the last coherent emission before political upheaval gutted the city's monetary independence — within a few years the dies were retired permanently.
The gulden standard itself was a South German convention, distinct from the Prussian thaler system that would eventually dominate unified Germany.
Frankfurt struck these gulden during the final years of its existence as a sovereign city-state, a status it had held almost continuously since the medieval period. In 1866, Prussia annexed Frankfurt outright following the Austro-Prussian War, dissolving the Free City entirely and absorbing it into the newly expanded Prussian state. Coins struck in 1862–63 thus belong to the last coherent emission before political upheaval gutted the city's monetary independence — within a few years the dies were retired permanently.
The gulden standard itself was a South German convention, distinct from the Prussian thaler system that would eventually dominate unified Germany.