1 Vereinsthaler - George II

George II ascended to rule Saxe-Meiningen in 1866, the same year Prussia's decisive victory at Königgrätz effectively ended the German Confederation and forced the remaining mid-sized Saxon duchies into an increasingly subordinate relationship with Berlin. This Vereinsthaler — struck just one year into his reign — was among the last issues the duchy would produce with any meaningful monetary independence. The North German Confederation's coinage laws were already tightening, and by 1871 the imperial mark system would render the thaler obsolete entirely.

George II is better remembered as a pioneering theater director than as a sovereign, founding the Meiningen Court Theatre's influential ensemble method.