1 Thaler - John Ernest IV Death

John Ernest IV ruled Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld for less than three years before dying in 1729 at age twenty-six, leaving no legitimate heir. His death triggered a succession absorbed by his brother Franz Josias, and this thaler — struck as a memorial issue — was among the last coins bearing his name. Death thalers of short-reigning Saxon dukes were a well-established minting tradition by this point, sometimes produced in greater quantities than anything struck during the prince's actual reign.

The Coburg mint's output for this type was limited, and the multiple catalog concordances suggest sustained collector interest across the 19th and 20th centuries rather than any particular rarity driving the references.