1/3 Thaler - Frederick August I

Frederick August I — better known as Augustus the Strong — converted to Catholicism in 1697 for the sole purpose of qualifying for the Polish throne, a political calculation that scandalized Lutheran Saxony and forced him to guarantee the Protestant establishment by treaty. These coins were struck during the years he was consolidating that dual authority, funding an extraordinarily expensive court at Dresden while simultaneously maintaining military commitments in Poland against Swedish pressure from Charles XII.

The Albertinian mint at Dresden was under considerable strain across this period, and minor die variations within the KM#723 type are not uncommon.