1 Pfennig - Frederick August I

Frederick August I — better known outside Saxony as Augustus II of Poland, or simply Augustus the Strong — was simultaneously Elector of Saxony and elected King of Poland from 1697, a dual role that strained Saxon finances considerably. The tiny silver Pfennig issues of 1708–1709 fall squarely within the Great Northern War, during which Swedish forces under Charles XII had occupied Saxony and forced Augustus to renounce the Polish crown by the Treaty of Altranstädt in 1706. He reclaimed it only after Charles XII's catastrophic defeat at Poltava in 1709.

Striking fractional silver during active military occupation and its immediate aftermath was itself a political signal — reasserting mint authority at the earliest opportunity.