1 Kreuzer

St. Gallen's civic coinage of the late sixteenth century reflects an ongoing jurisdictional tension between the city and the powerful Benedictine abbey that shared its name and walls. The city maintained its own mint rights as a means of asserting political independence from the abbey — a distinction that mattered enormously in the fragmented sovereignty of the Swiss Confederation. By 1583, that relationship had been contentious for over a century.

Billon issues at this weight were the workhorses of small daily transactions, and surviving examples typically show heavy circulation wear precisely because they were spent, not saved.