Louis VIII died in 1768, just three years after this issue, having spent much of his reign financing an extravagant court at Darmstadt that left the Landgraviate chronically indebted. Billon coinage of this type was the fiscal floor of the system — small change squeezed from an alloy kept deliberately low in silver content to offset treasury shortfalls.
Louis VIII died in 1768, just three years after this issue, having spent much of his reign financing an extravagant court at Darmstadt that left the Landgraviate chronically indebted. Billon coinage of this type was the fiscal floor of the system — small change squeezed from an alloy kept deliberately low in silver content to offset treasury shortfalls.