24 Mariengroschen - Alexius Frederick Christian

Alexius Frederick Christian ruled Anhalt-Bernburg from 1796 — the very year this coin was struck — having succeeded his father just as revolutionary France was dismantling the old European order to the west. The 24 Mariengroschen denomination was a North German accounting unit already in decline by the late eighteenth century, and issues from the smaller German principalities in this period were often short-lived as monetary rationalization crept eastward. Mann#722b distinguishes this from closely related dies within the type, a distinction that matters more than it might appear given how briefly Anhalt-Bernburg would survive as an independent issuing authority.