1 Thaler Kingdom of Prussia (1701-1918) Silver Frederick William ...

1835, Kingdom of Prussia, Frederick William III. Silver “Mining” Thaler Coin.

Mint Year: 1835 Denomination: Thaler Reference: Davenport 764,  Condition: Minor deposits, light hairlines and scratches, otherwise about XF! Weight: 22.13gm Diameter: 34mm Material: Silver

Obverse: Head of Frederick William III right. Legend: FRIEDR. WILHELM III KOENIG V. PREUSSEN / A

Reverse: Legend in three lines (“SEGEN DES MANSFELDER BERGBAUES” - “Blessed be the Mansfeld mining!”) above date (1835). Legend: EIN THALER XIV EINE FEINE MARK 1844

Frederick William III (German: Friedrich Wilhelm III., August 3, 1770 – June 7, 1840) was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840.

The son of King Frederick William II of Prussia and Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt, Frederick William was born in Potsdam and became Crown Prince in 1786, when his father ascended the throne.

As a child, Frederick William’s father (under the influence of his mistress, Wilhelmine Enke, Countess of Lichtenau)  had Frederick William handed over to tutors, as was quite normal for  the period. He spent part of the time living at Paretz, the estate of  the old soldier Count Hans von Blumenthal who was the governor of his brother Prince Heinrich. They thus grew up  partly with the Count’s son, who accompanied them on their Grand Tour  in the 1780s. Frederick William was happy at Paretz, and for this  reason in 1795 he bought it from his boyhood friend and turned it into  an important royal country retreat. He was a melancholy boy, but he  grew up pious and honest. His tutors included the dramatist Johan Engel.

Von Redlingshafer.

As a soldier he received the usual training of a Prussian prince, obtained his lieutenancy in 1784, became a colonel in 1790, and took part in the campaigns against France of 1792-1794. On December 24, 1793, Frederick William married Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, a princess noted for her beauty.

He succeeded the throne on 16 November 1797 and at once gave earnest of his good intentions by cutting down the  expenses of the royal establishment, dismissing his father’s ministers,  and reforming the most oppressive abuses of the late reign.  Unfortunately, however, he had all the Hohenzollern tenacity of  personal power without the Hohenzollern genius for using it. Too  distrustful to delegate his responsibility to his ministers, he was too  infirm of will to strike out and follow a consistent course for  himself. At first he and his advisors attempted to pursue a policy of  neutrality in the Napoleonic Wars. Although they succeeded in keeping out of the Third Coalition in 1805, eventually Frederick William was swayed by the belligerent  attitude of the queen, who led Prussia’s pro-war party, and entered  into war in October 1806. On October 14, 1806, at the Battle of Jena-Auerstädt, the French defeated the Prussian army led by Frederick William, and the Prussian army collapsed. The royal family fled to Memel, East Prussia, where they fell on the mercy of Emperor Alexander I of Russia (who, rumour has it, had fallen in love with Queen Louise).

Alexander, too, suffered defeat at the hands of the French, and at Tilsit on the Niemen France made peace with Russia and Prussia. Napoleon dealt with Prussia  very harshly, despite the pregnant Queen’s personal interview with the  French emperor. Prussia lost all its Polish territories, as well as all  territory west of the Elbe, and had to finance a large indemnity and to pay for French troops to occupy key strong points within the Kingdom.

Although the ineffectual King himself seemed resigned to Prussia’s fate, various reforming ministers, such as Baron vom Stein, Prince von Hardenberg, Scharnhorst, and Count Gneisenau,  set about reforming Prussia’s administration and military, with the  encouragement of the Queen (who died, greatly mourned, in 1810).

In 1813, following Napoleon’s defeat in Russia, Frederick William turned against France and signed an alliance with Russia at Kalitsch, although he had to flee Berlin,  still under French occupation. Prussian troops played a key part in the  victories of the allies in 1813 and 1814, and the King himself  travelled with the main army of Prince Schwarzenberg, along with Alexander of Russia and Francis of Austria.

At the Congress of Vienna,  Frederick William’s ministers succeeded in securing important  territorial increases for Prussia, although they failed to obtain the  annexation of all of Saxony,  as they had wished. Following the war, Frederick William turned towards  political reaction, abandoning the promises he had made in 1813 to  supply Prussia with a constitution.

He died on June 7, 1840. His eldest son, Frederick William IV, succeeded him.