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12 Groschen Siege of Erfurt
| Issuer | Imperial French Military Government of Erfurt |
|---|---|
| Year | 1813 |
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| Value | 12 Groschen |
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| Obverse description | Typeset note within a decorative engraved border composed of ornamental corner pieces and a repeating foliate frame. A small armorial vignette appears at the top centre, flanked by the denomination numeral '12' at upper left and the abbreviation 'Gr.' at upper right. The central text area carries the issuing authority and date inscription in German script, with a handwritten serial number and two manuscript signatures below. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Blokade von Erfurt. Zwölf Groschen Auf Befehl des Kaiserlich-Französischen Militair-Gouvernements, vom 1. November 1813, gefertigt. No Zwölf Groschen. |
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Erfurt was ceded to Napoleon in 1806 and administered as an imperial French possession until the collapse of the Grande Armée forced a renegotiation of central European boundaries. By 1813, with Prussian and allied forces pressing westward after Leipzig, the French garrison under General Lapoype found itself cut off and unable to access normal monetary channels. These siege notes — denominated in groschen rather than francs, a deliberate concession to local custom — were issued as emergency instruments to pay troops and procure supplies from a hostile civilian population.
The Erfurt siege lasted into late 1814, one of the longest French holdouts on German soil. Lapoype surrendered only after Napoleon's first abdication.