Struck to mark the reunification of the Anhalt duchies in 1863, this thaler commemorates the consolidation of Anhalt-Dessau, Anhalt-Bernburg, and Anhalt-Köthen under Duke Leopold Frederick following the extinction of the Bernburg and Köthen lines. Bernburg's line had died out in 1863 with the death of Alexander Carl, Köthen having already lapsed in 1847. The merged entity became the Duchy of Anhalt proper, ending centuries of subdivision among Ascanian branches.
Production was limited — a commemorative issue for a political event rather than a circulation necessity — which accounts for the relative difficulty in locating problem-free examples today.
Struck to mark the reunification of the Anhalt duchies in 1863, this thaler commemorates the consolidation of Anhalt-Dessau, Anhalt-Bernburg, and Anhalt-Köthen under Duke Leopold Frederick following the extinction of the Bernburg and Köthen lines. Bernburg's line had died out in 1863 with the death of Alexander Carl, Köthen having already lapsed in 1847. The merged entity became the Duchy of Anhalt proper, ending centuries of subdivision among Ascanian branches.
Production was limited — a commemorative issue for a political event rather than a circulation necessity — which accounts for the relative difficulty in locating problem-free examples today.