Prussia 1812-M groschen
This specimen was lot 4037 in Künker sale 353 (Osnabrück, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €70 (about US$98 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"BRANDENBURG-PREUSSEN, PREUSSEN, KÖNIGREICH, Friedrich Wilhelm III. 1797-1840. Ku.-Groschen 1812, M. Prägung der Freien Stadt Danzig. Münzmeister Johann Ludwig Mayer. Sehr schön. Erworben im November 1969. (Germany, kingdom of Prussia, Frederick William III, 1797-1840, copper groschen of 1812, struck by the free city of Danzig. Very fine.)"
This type was struck in 1809 and 1812 for the free city of Danzig. It is listed in the SCWC as a "grosz" but we use the German name here. The port, long ruled by Poland, was annexed to Prussia as part of the Second Partition of 1793. After defeat by Napoleon, Frederick William III was forced to surrender a large chunk of South Prussia to the king of Saxony as part of Napoleon's puppet state, the grand duchy of Warsaw. Danzig, tho not adjacent to the grand duchy, was made a free city so that the new state would have a port on the Baltic Sea. This lasted until Napoleon's defeat, whereupon the grand duchy was handed to the Russians as the kingdom of Poland. The city of Danzig returned to its former status.
Recorded mintage: unknown but the more common of the two dates.
Specification: copper, this specimen 2,71 g.
Catalog reference: KM 137, AKS 1; J. 153; Olding D3; Dutkowski/Suchanek 444 II.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Künker Auktion 353: Die Sammlung Axel Tesmer, Teil 2: Prägungen der Könige von Preussen von der Kroning 1701 bis zum Ende der Monarchie. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2021.
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