6 Gröscher - Frederick I

Frederick I secured the title "King in Prussia" in 1701 through a calculated bargain with Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, who needed Hohenzollern troops for the War of the Spanish Succession. The 6 Gröscher series followed almost immediately, part of a broader recoinage effort to assert the new kingdom's monetary identity distinct from the Brandenburg electorate that had preceded it.

The billon composition — barely over one-third fine silver — was characteristic of small-denomination Prussian issues of this period, when the costs of maintaining a war footing kept bullion tight.