The coin's reverse shows a half-page of King August II the Strong.  August II The Strong (1670-1733) was the Saxon elector and elected king of Poland. He took power in Saxony in 1694. In 1697 he decided to convert from Lutheranism to Catholicism, which allowed him to take part in the Polish election. He was proclaimed king after the Russians supporting his candidature, acting on the order of Tsar Peter I, bribed part of the nobility. Due to the resistance of the senators, who were on the side of the competing candidate, he was forced to break into the crown treasury in order to take out the insignia needed for the coronation. He was crowned king in September 1697; the legitimacy of his election and power was only confirmed by a parliament convened two years later. August II The Strong, as a Saxon elector, joined the Great Northern War between Sweden and Russia in 1700. Poland's involvement in the conflict also led to the ravaging of the country by the Swedish invasion, to the opposition election of Stanisław Leszczyński, and finally to the forced abdication of August II the Strong in 1706. He did not return to the throne until 1709, after the Swedes suffered a devastating defeat at Poltava. His rule, and especially the so-called Silent Sejm of 1717, began a period of the Republic's full dependence on Russia.