1/3 Thaler - Elizabeth

This coin exists because of one of the stranger chapters in Russo-Prussian relations. Russian forces occupied East Prussia and briefly Berlin itself during the Seven Years' War, and Elizabeth's government issued Thaler-denominated coinage — in familiar German fractional units — specifically to pay for occupation costs and facilitate commerce in conquered territory. The coin circulated as functional currency under Russian military administration, not as a prestige piece.

Elizabeth died in January 1762, ending the occupation's political rationale almost immediately. Her successor Peter III, an open admirer of Frederick the Great, withdrew Russian forces within months.