Issued to commemorate the monument erected at the Michaelskirche in Munich honoring Bavarian soldiers lost during Napoleon's 1812 Russian campaign, in which Bavaria — as a French ally — contributed roughly 30,000 men to the Grande Armée. Fewer than 3,000 returned. The monument itself was commissioned by Crown Prince Ludwig and completed by sculptor Johann Nepomuk Haller before Ludwig ascended to the throne as Louis I.
The thaler was struck the year following Ludwig's formal dedication of the memorial. It circulated as both a commemorative gesture and legitimate currency, which accounts for the worn survivors encountered today.
Issued to commemorate the monument erected at the Michaelskirche in Munich honoring Bavarian soldiers lost during Napoleon's 1812 Russian campaign, in which Bavaria — as a French ally — contributed roughly 30,000 men to the Grande Armée. Fewer than 3,000 returned. The monument itself was commissioned by Crown Prince Ludwig and completed by sculptor Johann Nepomuk Haller before Ludwig ascended to the throne as Louis I.
The thaler was struck the year following Ludwig's formal dedication of the memorial. It circulated as both a commemorative gesture and legitimate currency, which accounts for the worn survivors encountered today.