George Rudolph ruled Liegnitz-Brieg during one of the most financially destructive episodes in Central European history — the Kipper- und Wipperzeit, the currency debasement crisis of 1619–1623, when mints across the German lands raced to produce debased coinage and profit from the chaos. Silesian mints were heavily implicated. A silver half thaler from 1622 represents the harder-money end of what the duchy was producing; base-metal Kipper issues from the same years are considerably more common.
George Rudolph died in 1653 without a male heir, after which the Piast line of Liegnitz-Brieg attempted a succession arrangement that the Habsburgs refused to honor, eventually absorbing the duchy in 1675.
George Rudolph ruled Liegnitz-Brieg during one of the most financially destructive episodes in Central European history — the Kipper- und Wipperzeit, the currency debasement crisis of 1619–1623, when mints across the German lands raced to produce debased coinage and profit from the chaos. Silesian mints were heavily implicated. A silver half thaler from 1622 represents the harder-money end of what the duchy was producing; base-metal Kipper issues from the same years are considerably more common.
George Rudolph died in 1653 without a male heir, after which the Piast line of Liegnitz-Brieg attempted a succession arrangement that the Habsburgs refused to honor, eventually absorbing the duchy in 1675.