Lübeck's 1621 copper pfennig arrived at the height of the Kipper- und Wipperzeit — the "clipping and see-sawing" monetary crisis that convulsed the Holy Roman Empire between roughly 1619 and 1623. Petty princes and mints across the Empire were systematically debasing silver coinage to extract seigniorage profit, flooding markets with underweight small change. Lübeck, jealous of its Free City status and commercial reputation, was notably more conservative than most minting authorities during this period, though even it could not entirely insulate its currency from the chaos surrounding it.
KM# 105 is among the lightest recorded copper pieces from the city's output that decade.
Lübeck's 1621 copper pfennig arrived at the height of the Kipper- und Wipperzeit — the "clipping and see-sawing" monetary crisis that convulsed the Holy Roman Empire between roughly 1619 and 1623. Petty princes and mints across the Empire were systematically debasing silver coinage to extract seigniorage profit, flooding markets with underweight small change. Lübeck, jealous of its Free City status and commercial reputation, was notably more conservative than most minting authorities during this period, though even it could not entirely insulate its currency from the chaos surrounding it.
KM# 105 is among the lightest recorded copper pieces from the city's output that decade.