Alexandre Berthier held Neuchâtel as a Napoleonic gift — the principality was handed to him by decree in 1806 as reward for his service as Chief of Staff, making him sovereign of a Swiss territory while never meaningfully governing it. When the Empire collapsed, Prussian authority reasserted itself and Berthier's rule ended without the full monetary infrastructure his patronage had implied. These pattern pieces were never authorized for circulation, and the span of reference dates reflects restrikes produced decades after Berthier's death in 1815 — almost certainly from original or refurbished dies held at the Neuenburg mint.
Alexandre Berthier held Neuchâtel as a Napoleonic gift — the principality was handed to him by decree in 1806 as reward for his service as Chief of Staff, making him sovereign of a Swiss territory while never meaningfully governing it. When the Empire collapsed, Prussian authority reasserted itself and Berthier's rule ended without the full monetary infrastructure his patronage had implied. These pattern pieces were never authorized for circulation, and the span of reference dates reflects restrikes produced decades after Berthier's death in 1815 — almost certainly from original or refurbished dies held at the Neuenburg mint.