⅙ Thaler - Frederick II

Frederick II financed the Seven Years' War partly through deliberate currency debasement — the infamous "Ephraimiten" policy, named for his mint contractor Veitel Heine Ephraim, who systematically reduced silver content in Prussian coinage from 1757 onward. The ⅙ Thaler issues dated 1750–1755 predate that debasement, struck to the Prussian 14-Thaler Fuß standard while the royal treasury still had the means to maintain it. The sheer spread of Schrötter references (252–295) reflects production across multiple mints and die marriages — Aurich, Königsberg, Magdeburg, and Berlin all contributed — a distribution of striking authority that Frederick expanded aggressively to meet military spending demands.