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1 Thaler - Frederick William I
| Issuer | Prussia, Kingdom of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1718 |
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| Value | 1 Thaler |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Armored bust of Frederick William I of Prussia facing right, his long flowing hair falling to the shoulder, wearing plate armor with elaborate decorative detailing at the gorget and shoulder. A baton or commander's staff is visible at the upper left. The Latin legend FRID • WILH • D • G • REX • BOR • EL • BR: M curves around the periphery. The portrait is rendered in a bold, high-relief baroque style characteristic of early eighteenth-century German coinage, with fine engraving detail in the drapery and armor. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | FRID • WILH • D • G • REX • BOR • EL • BR: M |
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| Additional information |
Frederick William I, the "Soldier King," spent his reign systematically dismantling the baroque court culture his father Frederick I had built — slashing royal expenditures, disbanding the expensive arts patronage, and redirecting treasury funds almost entirely into the Prussian military. The 1718 thaler was struck during this transformation, when Brandenburg-Prussia's mints were being rationalized alongside everything else in the state apparatus.
The Davenport and Schröder references point to a well-documented but genuinely scarce type; survivors in honest circulated grades are encountered far less often than the reign's length would suggest.