Fribourg's autonomy within the Swiss Confederation gave the city the right to strike its own small change, and these fractional billon pieces served the daily transactions — bread, ferries, market tolls — that larger silver denominations couldn't practically cover. The HMZ varieties 251d and 251e reflect minor die differences within a continuous production run across nearly three decades of civic minting.
Fribourg's autonomy within the Swiss Confederation gave the city the right to strike its own small change, and these fractional billon pieces served the daily transactions — bread, ferries, market tolls — that larger silver denominations couldn't practically cover. The HMZ varieties 251d and 251e reflect minor die differences within a continuous production run across nearly three decades of civic minting.