Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
18 Gröscher - Frederick William
| Issuer | Brandenburg-Prussia, State of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1674 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 6.8 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Laureate and draped bust of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, facing right, his long flowing hair rendered in the Baroque style. The effigy displays armored shoulders partially visible beneath the truncation. The engraver's initials H.S. (Heinrich Sievert) appear at the bottom of the field below the bust truncation. A circular Latin legend surrounds the portrait within a beaded inner border: FRIED. WILH. D. G. M. B. S. R. I. ARC. & PR. EL., abbreviating his full electoral and princely titles. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Crowned quartered coat of arms of Brandenburg-Prussia centered in the field, supported by two lion supporters at the base and flanked by additional heraldic supporters at the upper quarters. The crowned shield displays the Brandenburg eagle and other territorial quarterings. The denomination numeral 18 appears to the right of the shield within the field. The circular Latin legend SUPREMUS DUX IN PRUSSIA 1674 surrounds the composition, with the date 1674 incorporated into the legend at the upper left, all within a beaded border. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The 18 Gröschner denomination was a distinctly Polish-Prussian commercial unit, its value calibrated for trade in the eastern Baltic territories rather than for domestic Brandenburg circulation. Frederick William — the Great Elector — struck these coins during a period when he was consolidating control over ducal Prussia, a sovereignty only formally granted by the Treaty of Wehlau in 1657 after his opportunistic pivot away from Sweden during the Northern Wars. The 1674 date places this issue amid ongoing currency debasement disputes with Polish merchants who remained suspicious of Brandenburg silver content.