W. C a r e w H a z l i t t Coinage of the European Continent

128 The Coins of Europe
norum Pruci. As the office was elective, we hardly understand
why he used the expression Magister
Winricus Primus
on a schilling before us.
The later annals of the Order of St. George, or,
afterwards became, of St. Mary, transport
as it
us to a different
region Franconia, where under various auspices, especially
those of Maximilian of Bavaria, the Knights preserved a
more or less nominal existence down to the commencement
of the present century, with the names of Maximilian and
others as grand
masters or administrators. There is an
interesting series from 1587 to 1618 of thalers, most of
which bear the full-length portrait of the Elector, his title as
Grand Administrator of Prussia, and an equestrian figure on
reverse surrounded by escutcheons. The thaler of 1587
and the \ of 1612 appear to be scarce. We have seen the
dates 1587, 1603, 1612, 1613, 1614, and 1618.
The coinage of Prussia itself, after the formation of the
kingdom, partook to some extent of the old Polish character,
and indeed there is
nothing to be found in the former equal
in artistic attraction and mechanical merit to the best period
3 thaler of Frederic III., Margraf of Brandenburgh subsequently
first King of Prussia.
of the latter State (1588-1660). The operations of the
mint during the reign of Frederic I.
(1701-13) appear to
have been on a frugal scale, and (if we may judge from the
small survival) to have been struck in limited numbers, as
the coins are uniformly of great rarity. Under the circumstances
it
may be desirable to enumerate such denominations
as have occurred :