GERMANY. Brandenburg-Preußen. Friedrich II der Große (the Great), 1740-1786. 1/24 Taler 1782 A (Silvered Copper, 20 mm, 2.11 g, 12 h), a contemporary imitation with an engravers error with 'EIИEИ' instead of 'EINEN', uncertain mint. Crowned monogram of Friedrich II divides date 17-82. Rev. 🏵24🏵 / EIИEИ (sic!) / THALER / A in four lines above two branches. Cf. Kluge 174.3, Olding 140 and Von Schrötter 707 (for prototype). Rare with this engravers error. Tiny marks, otherwise, very fine.


The notorious Prussian 1/24 Talers or Groschen of Friedrich II came to symbolize the rapid debasement of the coinage carried out by order of the king in an effort to replenish Prussia’s chronically depleted treasury during the Seven Years’ War.

This policy continued for the minor denominations even after the end of the war, and the 1/48 and 1/24 Talers were struck to an extremely low intrinsic standard. In accordance with Gresham’s Law - bad money driving good money out of circulation - these pieces spread rapidly, not only within Prussia itself but far beyond its borders. As a result, they became a favored target for contemporary counterfeiters. The simple silver-washing of copper, a common and highly profitable counterfeiting practice of the eighteenth century, was visually indistinguishable from the already debased official issues.

The possibly illiterate engraver responsible for this imitation nevertheless betrays the illicit nature of his remarkable creation through the retrograde Ns.