⅓ Thaler - Charles William

Charles William ruled Anhalt-Zerbst for less than three years before dying in 1667 — yet coins bearing his name continued to be struck posthumously under the regency government managing affairs for his minor heirs. The 1674–1675 dating places this issue well after his death, a bureaucratic persistence common in small German principalities where monetary authority remained vested in a dynastic name rather than a living ruler.

Anhalt-Zerbst would achieve its one moment of broader historical notice nearly a century later as the birthplace of Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, who became Catherine the Great of Russia.