Assembly of Princes -- Frankfurt-on-the-Main 1863
No.1 Ernst II - Duke of Sachsen Coburg Gotha No.2 Friedrich I - Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau No.3 Friedrich Franz II - Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin No.4 Friedrich Wilhelm - Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz No.5 Adolph Georg - Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe No.6 Dr. Müller - Mayor of Frankfurt No.7 Karl Alexander - Grand Duke Sachsen-Weimar No.8 Johann - King of Saxony No.9 Peter - Grand Duke of Oldenburg No.10 Maximilian Joseph II - King of Bavaria No.11 Dr. Roeck - Mayor from Lübeck No.12 Heinrich XIV - Hereditary Prince of Reuss-Schleiz No.13 Franz-Joseph I - Emperor of Austria-Hungary No.14 Heinrich - Prince of The Netherlands No.15 Dr. Haller - Mayor of Hamburg No.16 Georg V - King of Hannover No.17 Georg Victor - Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont No.18 Friedrich Wilhelm I - Elector of Hessen No.19 Freidrich Günther - Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt No.20 Johann - Prince of Liechtenstein No.21 Bernhard II - Duke of Sachsen-Meiningen No.22 Günther Friedrich Carl II - Prince of Schwarzburg-Sonderhausen No.23 Arnold Duckwitz - Mayor of Bremen No.24 Frederick Wilhelm Ludwig - Grand Duke of Baden No.25 Adolf Wilhelm - Duke of Nassau No.26 Wilhelm - Duke of Brunswick No.27 Ludwig III - Grand Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt No.28 Karl I - Crown Prince of Württemberg Congress of Princess - Frankfurt 1863 (Larger image here)

This project was inspired by the photograph which dominates the top of the page. (scroll over faces for details)

This remarkable assemblage was gathered on 1st September 1863 at Frankfurt-on-the-Main. Called by the Emperor of Austria to try and both influence the formation of the German conferadation and curb Prussia's (the second most powerful nation within the confederation at the time) growing power. Prussia is notably absent from the gathering. A summary of events can be read here. In the picture there are:

1 Emperor
3 Kings
6 Grand Dukes
4 Dukes
9 Princes
1 Elector
4 Free City Mayors

The vast majority of these rulers issued coins with most of them issuing the 1 thaler piece, a common "bullion" coin of the time. My project is to collect a coin for each ruler and to put a coin image beside that of the representative at the meeting in the table below.

Not every space will be filled in the appropriate way. While Freidrich I from Anhalt-Dessau did have coins issued bearing his image they were unfortunately not the thaler nor the 3 Mark Piece. An example of his father Leopold IV will suffice which is somewhat fitting as he was actually still alive at the time of the photograph. Additionally the city of Hamburg did not issue the 1 thaler coin at all so a different demonation will have to act as a representative coin. The 1 thaler coin from Liechenstein is very rare and expensive but thankfully Prince Franz Joseph II authorised a restrike in 1968 and I have been able to obtain one of these.

The Mayors of the four free citys do not, of course issue coins in their name but it should still be possible to obtain a representative type that would have been used at the time. The City of Lubeck did not issue a thaler at the time of this meeting, though it did in the later part of the previous century and it issued 3 Mark coins in the early 20th Century.

It is only Prince Henry of the Netherlands for which no truely suitable coin can be inserted. In his role as "Governor of Luxemburg" he issued no coins at all - However I have used the best example of a Luxemburg 10 Centimes of the time that I have. Indeed, it's amazing to think that out of the 28 individuals in this photograph only 5 did not have their image on a coin.

The rulers are notionally numbered 1 to 28 from left to right. It is worth noting that the order of precedence of these rulers is complex, refering as much to family history as to current title. A summary table can be seen here.

Additionally a table showing the rulers of Europe and representative coins I have for them can be seen here (warning- large page)
and a page showing other silver crown sized coins here

I hope this is of interest.

Malcolm Megaw ©

Photo No.
Ruler
Territory
Ruler Image
Coin image to be added
Coin Type
Reference
No.1 Ernst II Duke of
Sachsen Coburg Gotha		 Ernst II Sachen-Coburg-Gotha Ernst II 1852 1 Thaler 1 Thaler C.120b
No.2 Friedrich I Hereditary Prince
of Anhalt-Dessau		 Friedrich I Anhalt
anhalt dessau 1863 1 thaler
1 Thaler
of Leopold IV		 KM15
No.3 Friedrich Franz II Grand Duke of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin		 Friedrich Franz II
To be added
 1 Thaler KMA310
No.4 Friedrich Wilhelm Grand Duke of
Mecklenburg-Strelitz		 Friedrich Wilhelm
No.4 Frederick William Grand Duke of Mecklenburg
 1 Thaler KM100
No.5 Adolph Georg Prince of
Schaumburg-Lippe 		Adolph Georg
No.5 Adolf Georg of Schaumburg-Lippe
 1 Thaler C.48 - C.51
No.6 Dr. Müller Mayor of
Frankfurt 		Dr. Muller
Frankfurt 1863 1 Thaler
 1 Thaler KM360
No.7 Karl Alexander Grand Duke
Sachsen-Weimar		 Karl Alexander
Karl Alexander
 1 Thaler C.93
No.8 Johann King of
Saxony 		Johann Saxony Johann 1859 1 Thaler 1 Thaler KM1199
No.9 Peter Grand Duke of
Oldenburg 		Peter
Peter of Oldenburg 1866 1 Thaler
 2/3's Thaler KM196
No.10 Maximilian
Joseph II		 King of
Bavaria 		Maximilian Joseph II Bavaria Maximilian II 1861 1 Thaler 1 Thaler KM468
No.11 Dr. Roeck Mayor of
Lübeck 		Dr. Roeck
To be added
 City issued
1 Thaler		 KM168.2
No.12 Heinrich XIV Hereditary Prince
of Reuss-Schleiz 		Heinrich LXVII
To be added
 1 Thaler KM73
No.13 Franz-Joseph I Emperor of
Austria-Hungary		 Franz-Joseph I
Franz-Joseph I 1909 2 Corona
 1 Thaler KM2244
No.14 Heinrich Prince of
The Netherlands		 Heinrich
No.14 Hendrik 1870 Governor of the Netherlands
10 Centimes N/A
No.15 Dr. Haller Mayor of Hamburg Dr. Haller
To be added
 City issued
1 Shilling		 KM277
No.16 Georg V King of
Hannover 		Georg V
To be added
 1 Thaler KM220
No.17 Georg Victor Prince of
Waldeck-Pyrmont 		Georg Victor
To be added
 1 Thaler C.88
No.18 Friedrich Wilhelm I Elector of
Hessen 		Friedrich Wilhelm I
To be added
 1 Thaler KM621
No.19 Freidrich Günther Prince of
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt 		Freidrich Günther
To be added
 1 Thaler C.70a
No.20 Johann II Prince of
Liechtenstein 		Johann II Johan II 1 Thaler Y1
No.21 Bernhard II Duke of
Sachsen-Meiningen 		Bernhard II Bernhard II 1 Thaler KM167
No.22 Günther Friedrich
Carl II 		Prince of
Schwarzburg-Sonderhausen 		Günther Friedrich Carl II
To be added
 1 Thaler C.22
No.23 Arnold Duckwitz Mayor of
Bremen		 No.23 Arnold Duckwitz
To be added
 City issued
1 Thaler		 KM246
No.24 Frederick Wilhelm
Ludwig 		Grand Duke of
Baden 		Friedrich
Friedrich I
 1 Thaler KM240
No.25 Adolf Wilhelm Duke of
Nassau 		Adolf Wilhelm August Karl Friedrich
To be added
 1 Thaler C.62
No.26 Wilhelm Duke of
Brunswick 		Wilhelm
Wilhelm
 1 Thaler KM1152
No.27 Ludwig III Grand Duke of
Hessen-Darmstadt 		Ludwig III Ludwig III 1 Thaler KM338
No.28 Karl
Frederick Alexander 		Crown Prince of
Wurttemberg 		Karl Charles Frederick Alexander Karl Charles Frederick Alexander 1 Thaler KM620

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Who didn't attend?

There were a number of rulers of the Confederation who neither attended nor sent a deputy. For completeness I have listed these below and while I intend to get a representative coin for each of them, that objective is secondary. There were 6 territories that sent no representative, but I have listed 8 rulers. Alexander Carl, Duke of Anhalt Bernburg died only days before the meeting but he would have been the one to recieve the invitation from Franz-Joseph I to attend so I have included him. His successor did not attend either, but likely there was not enough time to organise his place as he was only elevated the day before, but he did qualify. In the event Friedrich I, his son, attended in his leu and as he never issued a 1 thaler coin or a 3 Mark coin I have had to use his fathers coin in the main table.

Photo No. Ruler Territory Ruler Image Coin image Coin Type Reference
-N/A- Wilhelm I King of Prussia William I King of Prussia Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm IV 1861 1 thaler - Coronation of Wilhelm and Augusta 1 Thaler KM488
-N/A- Wilhelm I King of Prussia William I King of Prussia Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm IV 1861 1 thaler - Coronation of Wilhelm and Augusta 1 Thaler KM500
-N/A- Frederick VII King of Denmark Frederik King of Denmark
To be added
 2 Rigsdaler KM770
-N/A- Heinrich XXII Prince of Reuss
elder line 		Heinrich XXII Reuss elder line
To be added
 1 Thaler KM120
-N/A- Leopold III Prince of Lippe-Detmold Leopold III Prince of Lippe
To be added
 1 Thaler KM267
-N/A- Alexander Carl Duke
of Anhalt Bernburg		 Alexander Carl duke of Anhalt Bernburg
To be added
 1 Thaler KM86
-N/A- Leopold IV Duke
of Anhalt		 Leopold IV Duke of Anhalt
anhalt dessau 1863 1 thaler
 1 Thaler KM15
-N/A- Ernst I Duke of
Sachsen-Altenburg 		Ernst I Duke of Sachsen Altenburg
To be added
 1 Thaler KM C.16
-N/A- Ferdinand Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg Ferdinand Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg
To be added
 1 Thaler KM20

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Other Austria/German large silver coins

Over time, the thaler (taler) denomination was discontinued, though the 3 mark denomination, similar in size, was considered it's successor.

Photo No. Ruler Territory Ruler Image Coin image Coin Type Reference
-N/A- Wilhelm II German Emperor
King of Prussia 		William I Prussia Prussia William II 1913 3 mark 3 Mark KM535
-N/A- Fredrich Wilhelm IV King of Prussia Fredrich Wilhelm IV Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm IV 1855 1 thaler 1 Thaler KM455
-N/A- Ludwig II King of Bavaria Ludwig II Bavaria Bavaria Ludwig 1868 1 Thaler 1 Thaler KM877
-N/A- Otto King of Bavaria Otto Bavaria Bavaria Otto 1910 3 mark 3 Mark KM515
-N/A- Luitpold Prince Regent of Bavaria Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria Bavaria 1911 3 Mark 3 Mark KM998
-N/A- Ludwig III King of Bavaria Ludwig III of Bavaria Bavaria Ludwig III 1914 3 mark 3 Mark KM515
-N/A- Frederick II Grand duke of Baden Frederick II of Baden Frederick II of Baden 1909 3 mark 3 Mark KM515
-N/A- William II King of Württemberg William II of Württemberg Wurttemberg 1909 3 mark F 3 Mark KM515
-N/A- Francis II Emperor of Austria Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor 1795 1 Kronenthaler - Milan 1 Kronenthaler KM293
-N/A- Frederick Augustus III King of Saxony Frederick Augustus III of Saxony Saxony 1913 3 Mark 3 Mark KM1267

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