1/3 Thaler - Frederick I

Frederick I became King *in* Prussia — not *of* Prussia — in 1701, a deliberate legal distinction insisted upon by the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, who would not permit a king to rule over territory within imperial borders. Brandenburg-Prussia's sovereignty over Ducal Prussia, outside those borders, was the technical basis on which Frederick could crown himself at all. The coronation at Königsberg on January 18, 1701 immediately triggered a new coinage program, and the 1/3 Thaler denomination was among the first issues to carry the royal title.

KM#11 encompasses the full reign span, meaning die varieties and mint mark differences across the period reward closer study.