1/8 Stuiver 'Mutterken' Nijmegen

The "mutterken" — a diminutive of the Madonna figure that likely appeared on these fractional billon pieces — was among the smallest denomination struck in the Habsburg-era Low Countries, produced at Nijmegen when the duchy's mint was operating under increasingly pressured political circumstances. Guelders under Charles of Egmond was in near-constant conflict with the Habsburgs during this period, and local mint output reflected both the urgency of small-change demand and the chronic shortage of precious metal that plagued the region's monetary system.