Münze Gold - Friedrich II - Preussen 1774

The Friedrich d'or was a Prussian

gold coin A gold coin is a coin that is made mostly or entirely of gold. Most gold coins minted since 1800 are 90–92% gold (22karat), while most of today's gold bullion coins are pure gold, such as the Britannia, Canadian Maple Leaf, and American Buffa ...

(

pistole Pistole is the French name given to a Spanish gold coin in use from 1537; it was a doubloon or double escudo, the gold unit. The name was also given to the Louis d'Or of Louis XIII of France, and to other European gold coins of about the value ...

) nominally worth 5 silver Prussian thalers. It was subsequently copied by other North German states under their own rulers' names (''August-, Friedrich-August-, Christian d'or'') and valued at 4.8-5 silver

North German thaler The North German thaler was a currency used by several states of Northern Germany from 1690 to 1873, first under the Holy Roman Empire, then by the German Confederation. Originally equal to the Reichsthaler specie or silver coin from 1566 until t ...

s. It was used from 1741 to 1855 as a regularly-issued gold

trade coin Trade coins are coins minted by a government, but not necessarily legal tender within the territory of the issuing country. These quasi bullion coins (in rarer cases small change) were thus actually export goods - that is, bullion in the form of co ...

at this time, and was traded at a small

premium Premium may refer to: Marketing * Premium (marketing), a promotional item that can be received for a small fee when redeeming proofs of purchase that come with or on retail products * Premium segment, high-price brands or services in marketing, ...

or discount to its

face value The face value, sometimes called nominal value, is the value of a coin, bond, stamp or paper money as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the issuing authority. The face value of coins, stamps, or bill is usually its legal value. Howe ...

of five thalers in

silver standard The silver standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of silver. Silver was far more widespread than gold as the monetary standard worldwide, from the Sumerians 3000 BC until 1873. Following t ...

currency (''silberkurantgeld'') used in the

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for th ...

s and elsewhere. Around 1780, for example, the Saxon August d'or was quoted at 116 to 120 ''

groschen Groschen (; from la, grossus "thick", via Old Czech ') a (sometimes colloquial) name for various coins, especially a silver coin used in various states of the Holy Roman Empire and other parts of Europe. The word is borrowed from the late Lat ...

sächsischen silberkurantgeldes'' (4.83 to 5 thalers, Saxon silver currency), with a maximum discount of 4 groschen (0.17 thaler). In the 19th century it usually had a low premium. Prussian purchase contracts or bonds payable in 5-thaler gold pistoles (rather than silver currency) were noted as payable in ''"XX thalers, preußisch Courant"'' or "Friedrich d'or".

History

Modelled on the Spanish

doubloon The doubloon (from Spanish ''doblón'', or "double", i.e. ''double escudo'') was a two-''escudo'' gold coin worth approximately $4 (four Spanish dollars) or 32 '' reales'', and weighing 6.766 grams (0.218 troy ounce) of 22-karat gold (or 0.917 fi ...

and French

Louis d'or The Louis d'or () is any number of French coins first introduced by Louis XIII in 1640. The name derives from the depiction of the portrait of King Louis on one side of the coin; the French royal coat of arms is on the reverse. The coin was re ...

, the forerunner of the Friedrich d'or was the Wilhelm d'or. It was first minted in 1741 by Frederick II. It was continued by his successors Frederick William II,

Frederick William III Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, wh ...

and

Frederick William IV Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...

, until 1855. From 1747 a double Friedrich d'or was minted, and a half Friedrich d'or from 1749. Its fine weight sank in 1770 from 6.05 to 6.03 grams. The Friedrich d'or

of 5 thalers was issued when the ratio of gold to silver price dropped from 15 to 14.5 in the first half of the 18th century, making it cheaper to repay thaler-denominated obligations in gold. At 6.05 g fine gold per pistole, each thaler was worth 1.21g fine gold & 1.21 x14.5 = 17.545 g fine silver, cheaper than the prevailing standard of 19.488 g fine silver. Even at the pistole's lower value of 4.8 thalers, the thaler's silver equivalent of 18.3 g is still below the standard. What followed was the North German thaler's silver standard lowered after 1750 to 13 per Cologne Mark, or 17.539 g fine silver (in Prussia, 14 per Mark or 16.704 g). When the gold-silver ratio rose again, the pistole then traded at 5 thalers plus an ''agio'' or premium. The pistole's standard varied slightly; at best 35 to a Cologne Mark of gold 130/144 fine, or 6.032 g fine gold; at worst 35 to a Mark 129/144 fine, or 5.957 g fine gold. Only

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

stayed on the Thaler Gold standard of 5 thalers per pistole until German Reunification in 1871.

Appearance

On the obverse of the Friedrich d'or was the king's head, and on the reverse was an eagle standing on its shield.

Bibliography

Fred Reinfeld Fred Reinfeld (January 27, 1910 – May 29, 1964) was an American writer on chess and many other subjects. He was also a strong chess master, often among the top ten American players from the early 1930s to the early 1940s, as well as a college ...

: ''A Catalogue of the World's Most Popular Coins'', (Sterling, New York, 1956) () {{DEFAULTSORT:Friedrich Dor Economy of Prussia Gold coins

History

Appearance

See also

Bibliography