The museum’s exhibition presents six rare silver coins minted by Russia for Prussia in 1759 and 1761. These are four coins worth six groschen, 1/3 and 1/6 thaler. All coins were minted during the Seven Years’ War. The 1/3 thaler coin is the largest in the collection in terms of size and the heaviest, containing the largest amount of pure silver.

By the time of the Seven Years’ War, thalers were used only in the Royal Treasury, and guilders were in circulation. The 1/3 thaler coin was equal to one guilder. On the obverse of the coin was a profile portrait of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna with a legend around in Latin: ELISAB. I. D. G. IMP. TOT. RUSS (“Elizabeth I by the Grace of God Empress of All Russia”).

Elizaveta Petrovna Romanova was the youngest daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. She came to the Russian throne as a result of another palace coup in December 1741. Her reign was marked by the Seven Years’ War and the victory of Russian troops in the Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf, the Russian entry into Koenigsberg in January 1758 and the period when the Prussian province was under Russian administration (1758–1762). It was by order of the Empress that Russian coins began to be minted for Prussia. The first copies were delivered to St. Petersburg and presented personally to Elizaveta Petrovna.

On the reverse of the coin there is a single-headed Prussian eagle with the attributes of power — scepter and orb, its wings are covered with trefoils. The reverse also shows the year of issue: two digits on each side of the eagle. In the lower segment — the inscription 3 EIN. R. TH. COUR (“third part of the imperial thaler course”). The coin’s edge is patterned.

The reason for these coins to be introduced was that at the time the Russian troops entered Königsberg, the Prussian coinage was in an extremely neglected state. The property of the Royal Mint and the mint stamp were taken out of the city. Governor-General Nikolai Andreyevich Korff had to prohibit the import of low-proof coins — with a low silver content — under threat of confiscation. In June 1758, the restored Königsberg Mint began minting groschen and thalers.