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1 Pfennig
| Issuer | Free Imperial City of Frankfurt (German States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1622 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | KM#73 |
| Obverse description | The Frankfurt civic arms, depicting a displayed eagle within a rectangular shield, occupies the central field. The initial F, serving as the mint or city identifier, appears above the shield, flanked on either side by the divided date 16 and 22. The coin is struck on an irregular flan typical of hammered pfennig coinage of the early seventeenth century, with weak areas at the periphery consistent with the production methods of the period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 16 F 22 |
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| Additional information |
Frankfurt's 1622 pfennig falls squarely within the Kipper- und Wipperzeit — the "clipping and culling time" — a catastrophic currency debasement crisis that swept the Holy Roman Empire between roughly 1619 and 1623. Mints across the German states, Frankfurt included, systematically debased their coinage to extract seigniorage profit, flooding circulation with underweight silver pieces while hoarding the better old coin. That a one-pfennig denomination was struck in silver at all reflects how completely the monetary order had inverted; base metal had effectively disappeared into hoarding and export.
KM#73 is among the minor issues of this turbulent period and survives in relatively small numbers.