Berthier received Neuchâtel as a personal gift from Napoleon in 1806 — stripped from Prussia following Jena — making him one of the very few French marshals to exercise genuine sovereign authority over a minting operation. He never once visited his principality. These kreutzers were struck for a population that remained largely indifferent to their absentee prince, and the two-year window of this type reflects the short span before Napoleonic administrative reforms standardized coinage across the dependent states.
Berthier received Neuchâtel as a personal gift from Napoleon in 1806 — stripped from Prussia following Jena — making him one of the very few French marshals to exercise genuine sovereign authority over a minting operation. He never once visited his principality. These kreutzers were struck for a population that remained largely indifferent to their absentee prince, and the two-year window of this type reflects the short span before Napoleonic administrative reforms standardized coinage across the dependent states.