1 Körtling - Frederick William

Ravensberg passed to Brandenburg through inheritance in 1614, and Frederick William — the Great Elector — spent much of his reign asserting practical control over territories that were his on paper but contested in fact. These small billon pieces were struck during the closing years of the Thirty Years' War and its immediate, chaotic aftermath, when coin quality across the German states had been systematically debased by decades of Kipper und Wipper-era manipulation. At 0.205 fineness, this Körtling sits near the floor of what could still be called silver coinage.