Neuchatel Louis

Despite its Swiss roots, the Neuchâtel Louis bore the image of a Prussian king, a nod to the principality's tangled political allegiances under Berlin's rule.

These gold coins, minted from 1700 to 1798, were struck in denominations mimicking French louis d'or, likely to ease cross-border trade in a fractious Europe. We know they used high-purity gold, though the exact sources remain debated—perhaps from regional mines or recycled bullion. Mintage records are spotty; many documents vanished in later conflicts.

Handling one feels solid, a reminder of how currency bridged empires. The designs varied slightly over the decades, with portraits of successive Hohenzollern rulers.

Some numismatists quip that these coins were the original "Swiss neutrality," caught between French style and Prussian authority.