3 Pfennig Dreier - George the Bearded

George the Bearded — Duke of Albertine Saxony from 1500 to 1539 — was one of the most tenacious Catholic princes in the Empire, resisting Lutheran reform with a consistency that set him apart from nearly every neighboring ruler. His territories remained officially Catholic throughout his reign despite enormous pressure, including direct confrontation with Luther himself. Small silver issues like this Dreier circulated through a Saxony that was administratively and confessionally distinct from the Ernestine lands just across the border.

George died without a surviving male heir in 1539. Within weeks, his brother Heinrich — a Lutheran — reversed every religious policy George had spent decades defending.