2 Groschen / 1/12 Thaler Holy Roman Empire (962-1806) Silver

Brandenburg-Bayreuth, George William I. Silver 1/12 Thaler Coin. 

Mint Year: 1726

Reference: KM-154.
Denomination: 1/12 Thaler (2 Groschen)

Diameter: 27mm

Weight: 3.33gm

Material: Silver

Obverse: Orange tree inside a tub, decorated with heraldic eagle of Branenburg, adorned with a cross order. Legend in french ("Always the same.") around, mint master´s initials (ILR) in exergue.

Legend: TOUJOUS . LE . MEME .

Reverse: Inscription in seven lines with bibliographical data of the deceased ruler above fractional thaler value numeral (12). His titles around.

The Principality of Bayreuth (German: Fürstentum Bayreuth) or Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (Markgraftum Brandenburg-Bayreuth) was an immediate territory of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty. Since Burgrave Frederick VI of Nuremberg was enfeoffed with the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1415/17, the Hohenzollern princes transferred the margravial title to their Franconian possessions, though the principality never had been a march. Until 1604 they used Plassenburg Castle in Kulmbach as their residence, hence their territory was officially called the Principality of Kulmbach or Margraviate of Brandenburg-Kulmbach until the Empire’s dissolution in 1806.

George William of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (German: Georg Wilhelm; 16 November 1678 in Bayreuth – 18 December 1726 in Bayreuth) was a member of the House of Hohenzollern and Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth.

George William succeeded his father as margrave of Bayreuth when he died on 20 May 1712. He pursued a military career due to a lack of academic aptitude and participated successfully on the imperial side in numerous battles. In this connection, he was seriously hit by a musket ball near Landau, a wound that never healed completely. In his youth, before acceding to the margraviate, he created the suburb of Sankt Georgen. It was intended to be a self-contained city (today in the district of Bayreuth) built in baroque style with a castle in the lake. In the artificially-created Brandenburg Pond (German: Brandenburger Weiher), fed by the Steinach tributary, he installed a ski jump and organized naval battles with real ships. On 17 November 1705, he created the Order of the Red Eagle (German: Roter Adlerorden), then known as the Ordre de la Sincérité, and celebrated the anniversary of its foundation every year with splendid festivities. The Order of the Red Eagle also possessed its own church, the Sophienkirche. 18th-century coats of arms of the Order are displayed there to this day.

The margrave was an enthusiastic hunter who built the Emperor’s Hunting Seat (German: Kaiserhammer) and the Thiergarten. In addition, he is considered the builder of the Hermitage Museum and Schloss Neustädtlein. As margrave, he expanded the armed forces substantially.