1 Pfennig

Ulm's civic coinage rights were hard-won and fiercely defended — the city obtained imperial minting privileges and periodically clashed with neighboring authorities over the boundaries of those rights throughout the late medieval period. This tiny silver piece was struck at the very moment Ulm stood among the wealthiest free imperial cities in the empire, its linen trade still commanding markets from Lyon to Kraków. At 0.20 g, it sits at the practical floor of silver coinage, the denomination most likely to have passed through the hands of market vendors and day laborers rather than merchants settling accounts.