1/12 of a thaler

Sweden's accession to the Seven Years' War (1757–1762) called for increasing coinage in order to pay for the army. For this purpose, King Adolf Frederick agreed to lease the royal mint in Stralsund to bankers and coin minting below the standard. The bullion values ​​of those products kept secret deepened the chaos and deprived money of public trust. In 1760, the mint returned to the Crown, but its products were further deteriorating. In a short time, huge amounts of fine money totaling 15 million thalers were released into circulation, and the Münzfuß increased from 16 to 41 thalers from grzywna (about 233 g). The basic group of circulation coins (1/3, 1/6, 1/12, 1/24, 1/48) within the same denomination was minted from various qualities of silver and specially marked. After the end of the war in 1763, the minting was reorganized and inflation coins were exchanged. The Leipzig Mint Ordinance of 1690 was considered binding and the thickest silver denominations (2/3 and 1/3 of a thaler) were minted to a 12-thaler Münzfuß, as declared with the inscription on new products: Nach dem Leipziger Fus von 1690 (to the Leipzig mint standard). Fine coins, such as the featured 1/12 thaler, which is the equivalent of two groschen, were minted to a 13-thaler standard. The graphic design on the coins was new, and the obverse of the royal monogram was complemented by a purely propaganda inscription aimed at strengthening faith in the publicly declared minting of full-value money. The production was carried out, following the example of his father, by the mintmaster Johann Heinrich Löwe, holding this office in Stralsund in 1761-1763 and then in Strelitz.

Genowefa Horoszko