1 Guter Pfennig - Frederick II

Frederick II's accession in 1740 immediately preceded the First Silesian War, and the small billon coinage struck in these years reflects the fiscal strain of funding a military campaign against Austria almost from the moment he took the throne. The "Guter Pfennig" denomination — literally "good penny" — was a deliberate distinction from debased copper issues, though the billon content itself was modest enough to make that claim largely nominal.