Kempten issued this coin at the height of the Kipper- und Wipperzeit — the catastrophic currency debasement crisis that swept the Holy Roman Empire between roughly 1619 and 1623, during which mints across German territories raced to produce debased small silver, pocketing the difference. Free cities were no exception, and Kempten's participation in this inflationary frenzy is precisely why the 1622–23 dating matters: production almost certainly ceased once imperial authorities moved to stabilize the coinage. Most survivors circulated hard and fast through a collapsing monetary system.
Kempten issued this coin at the height of the Kipper- und Wipperzeit — the catastrophic currency debasement crisis that swept the Holy Roman Empire between roughly 1619 and 1623, during which mints across German territories raced to produce debased small silver, pocketing the difference. Free cities were no exception, and Kempten's participation in this inflationary frenzy is precisely why the 1622–23 dating matters: production almost certainly ceased once imperial authorities moved to stabilize the coinage. Most survivors circulated hard and fast through a collapsing monetary system.