5 Ducats - Frederick William I Homage of Stettin

Struck to commemorate the formal Prussian homage ceremony at Stettin in 1721, following Frederick William I's acquisition of Swedish Pomerania under the Treaty of Stockholm the previous year. Prussia had coveted this Baltic coastline for decades, and the ceremony — in which Stettin's estates swore loyalty to the Hohenzollern crown — was politically significant enough to warrant a dedicated gold multiple issue. Such homage pieces were not circulating currency; they were distributed as diplomatic gifts and mementos of the oath-taking event itself.

The Fr#2352 attribution places this firmly within the Frankfort reference for German gold multiples, while Brock Pr#547 confirms its commemorative classification. Surviving examples are rare by any measure — the occasion was specific, the mintage deliberately limited.