Germany
– German States. Kingdom of Saxony Frederick Augustus III (Friedrich August) – Elector of Saxony: 17 December 1763 – 20 December 1806 1801 IEC Silver Taler 39mm (28.06 grams) 0.833 Silver (0.7516 oz. ASW) Dresden Mint Reference: KM# 1027.2, Dav# 850 Certification: NGC AU58 5719575-013 FRID·AVGVST·D G·DVX SAX ELECTOR, Head of Frederick Augustus III right. 1801 X. EINE FEINE MARK, crowned Coat-of-arms shield within branches.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
Frederick Augustus I (full name: Frederick Augustus Joseph Maria Anthony John Nepomuk Aloysius Xavier; German: Friedrich August Josef Maria Anton Johann Nepomuk Aloys Xaver; Polish: Fryderyk August Józef Maria Antoni Jan Nepomucen Alojzy Ksawery Wettyn; 23 December 1750 – 5 May 1827) was a member of the House of Wettin who reigned as Elector of Saxony from 1763 to 1806 (as Frederick Augustus III) and as King of Saxony from 1806 to 1827. He also served as Duke of Warsaw from 1807 to 1813.
Succeeding his father in 1763 as the elector Frederick Augustus III, he brought order and efficiency to his country’s finances and administration. In foreign policy, he was neutralist but drifted towards Prussia, whose side he took in the Bavarian succession dispute (1778-79), when it prevented Bavaria’s cession to Austria.[1] For his cooperation he received substantial financial compensation from Prussia. In 1785, Frederick Augustus joined the Prussian-sponsored Fürstenbund (League of Princes), but remained neutral during the Austro-Prussian dispute in 1790. Offered the Polish crown in 1791, he declined as he feared that his “risky” politics may cause further damage to the Polish state, which was already weak and eventually stopped existing in 1795. The next year Saxony reluctantly joined the coalition against Revolutionary France but was defeated by 1796. Again entering the struggle on Prussia’s side in 1806, after the decisive defeat at Jena in the same year, Frederick Augustus made peace with Napoleon, which secured the title of king of Saxony for him. A year later, Napoleon secured the Duchy of Warsaw for him. Frederick Augustus remained a loyal ally to France even after the disastrous Russian campaign (1812-13). Although he had started half-hearted negotiations with Austria, he broke them off after the French victory at Lützen (May 1813). In the Battle of Leipzig (October 1813), however, his troops went over to Prussia and he was taken as prisoner to Berlin. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Frederick Augustus lost three-fifths of his territory to Prussia. He spent the rest of his life attempting to rehabilitate his truncated state.[1]
Throughout his political career Frederick Augustus tried to rehabilitate and recreate the Polish state that was torn apart and stopped existing after the final partition of Poland in 1795, however he did not succeed – for this he would blame himself for the rest of his life. Nevertheless, his efforts for reestablishing an independent Polish nation did endear him to the Polish people.
The Augustusplatz in Leipzig is named after him.
Saxony (German: Sachsen, Upper Sorbian: Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony, Upper Sorbian: Swobodny stat Sakska), is a landlocked federal state of Germany, bordering the federal states of Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland (Lower Silesian and Lubusz Voivodeships) and the Czech Republic (Karlovy Vary, Liberec, and Ústí nad Labem Regions). Its capital is Dresden, and its largest city is Leipzig.
Saxony is the tenth largest of Germany’s sixteen states, with an area of 18,413 square kilometres (7,109 sq mi), and the sixth most populous, with 4 million people.
The history of the state of Saxony spans more than a millennium. It has been a medieval duchy, an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, a kingdom, and twice a republic.
The area of the modern state of Saxony should not be confused with Old Saxony, the area inhabited by Saxons. Old Saxony corresponds roughly to the modern German states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and the Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.
|