2 Pfennig - Charles Theodor

Charles Theodor inherited Bavaria in 1777 with no enthusiasm for it — he preferred his Palatinate territories and famously attempted to trade most of Bavaria to Austria in exchange for the Austrian Netherlands, a scheme blocked by Frederick the Great and the resulting War of the Bavarian Succession. He ruled an electorate he never wanted, and his administration was marked by persistent fiscal strain and reliance on small copper subsidiary coinage to keep commerce moving at the lowest levels of daily exchange.

By 1793 Bavaria was feeling the economic pressure of the revolutionary wars on its borders. Charles Theodor died in 1799, leaving no legitimate heirs and ending the Palatinate-Sulzbach line entirely.