William II ruled Hessen from 1471 until his death in 1509, and the Petersgroschen takes its name from the figure of St. Peter, patron of the Marburg collegiate church whose ecclesiastical politics were deeply entangled with Hessian landgravial ambitions throughout this period. The albus — literally "white penny," referencing the coin's silver wash over a billon core — was the dominant small-denomination struck across the Rhenish territories, and Hessen's participation in that currency zone reflects William's sustained effort to align his coinage with the broader Rhenish monetary conventions without formally joining the Rhenish League.
Schütz II#360 places this type firmly within William's later issues.
William II ruled Hessen from 1471 until his death in 1509, and the Petersgroschen takes its name from the figure of St. Peter, patron of the Marburg collegiate church whose ecclesiastical politics were deeply entangled with Hessian landgravial ambitions throughout this period. The albus — literally "white penny," referencing the coin's silver wash over a billon core — was the dominant small-denomination struck across the Rhenish territories, and Hessen's participation in that currency zone reflects William's sustained effort to align his coinage with the broader Rhenish monetary conventions without formally joining the Rhenish League.
Schütz II#360 places this type firmly within William's later issues.