1862, Frankfurt (Free City). Silver Thaler Coin. VF+
Mint Year: 1862 References: KM-360, Jaeger 42 b, Thun 144, AKS 10, Kahnt 170. Denomination: Silver Thaler Condition: Numerous bag-marks from circulation, cleaned, otherwise VF+ Weight: 18.35gm Diameter: 33mm Material: Silver
Obverse: Wreathed female bust right (personification of Frankfurt). City arms at chest. Comment: Engraver´s name (A.V. NORDHEIM) at bust´s base. Legend: FREIE STADT FRANKFURT
Reverse: Heraldic crowned eagle of Frankfurt (City Arms) left. Legend: XXX EIN PFUND FEIN + 1862 + EIN VEREINSTHALER + Edge Legend: STARK IM RECHT
After the ill-fated revolution of 1848, Frankfurt was the seat of the first democratically elected German parliament, the Frankfurt Parliament, which met in the Frankfurter Paulskirche (St. Paul’s Church) and was opened on 18 May 1848. The institution failed in 1849 when the Prussian king declared that he would not accept “a crown from the gutter”. In the year of its existence, the assembly developed a common constitution for a unified Germany, with the Prussian king as its monarch.
Frankfurt lost its independence after the Austro-Prussian War as Prussia in 1866 annexed several smaller states, among them the free city of Frankfurt. The Prussian administration incorporated Frankfurt into its province of Hesse-Nassau. The formerly independent towns of Bornheim and Bockenheim were incorporated in 1890.