3 Pfennig - Frederick II

These copper Pfennig pieces were struck during the Seven Years' War, when Prussia's finances were under extraordinary strain. Frederick II had already debased his silver coinage aggressively — flooding occupied Saxon mints with underweight Thalers — and even the subsidiary copper issues of 1761–62 reflect a treasury scraping to fund campaigns on multiple fronts simultaneously. The war ended in 1763 with the Treaty of Hubertusburg, leaving Prussia victorious but economically exhausted.

Copper coinage of this period circulated hard and survived poorly. The two-year window of this type makes even worn examples genuinely scarce.