1 Pfennig - Louis III

Louis III ruled Hesse-Darmstadt through a period of intense political pressure from Prussia, and following the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the grand duchy was forced into the North German Confederation despite having backed the losing side. These small copper pfennig continued circulating under his name even as Hessian monetary autonomy was being systematically absorbed — the issue ran until 1872, the year after German unification rendered it obsolete by imperial decree.