1 Blanken - John I

John I ruled Cleves during a period of persistent small-change scarcity across the Lower Rhine, and the blanken was specifically introduced to fill the gap between the heavy silver coinage and the near-worthless copper issues that dominated petty commerce. The denomination takes its name from the Middle Dutch word for "bright" or "shining" — a reference to the freshly blanched silver surface that distinguished it from debased local imitations flooding the same markets.

Cleves maintained its mint rights jealously during John's tenure, a privilege repeatedly contested by neighboring Gelderland and the ecclesiastical mints of Cologne.