2 Pfennig - Frederick William Leopold

Lippe was among the smallest of the German territorial states, a county-turned-principality whose coinage rights were jealously maintained as a marker of sovereignty long after their practical monetary significance had faded. By 1802, Napoleon's reorganization of German territories was already underway, and Lippe would formally enter the Confederation of the Rhine in 1807 — making issues from this final pre-Napoleonic window among the last struck under the old feudal framework. Frederick William Leopold ruled until 1802, the year of this coin's issue, when he was succeeded by Pauline zur Lippe as regent.