2 Friedrichs d'Or - Frederick II

Frederick II resumed gold coinage in 1740 immediately upon his accession, using the Friedrichs d'Or as a deliberate instrument of Prussian prestige — and, critically, of war finance. The Seven Years' War had not yet begun in 1749, but Frederick was already rebuilding treasury reserves depleted by the War of the Austrian Succession, which had ended only four years prior. The Berlin and Breslau mints both contributed to output during these interwar years, and attribution to a specific facility can hinge on subtle die characteristics documented in the Kluge and Olding references.

The .986 fineness was among the highest maintained by any contemporary European gold coinage, a standard Frederick refused to debase even under fiscal pressure.