1 Thaler - William

William, Duke of Brunswick, came to power in 1830 only after his brother Charles II was driven out by a popular uprising — the Brunswick Palace itself was burned to the ground by the mob. William proved a more pragmatic ruler but governed under the shadow of that violent transition for the remainder of his reign. This thaler series, struck across just two years, reflects the brief window before broader German monetary harmonization began eroding the independent coinage rights of smaller states.