1 Pfennig

1622 places this squarely in the inflationary catastrophe known as the Kipper- und Wipperzeit, a currency crisis that saw hundreds of German municipal and ecclesiastical authorities — Erfurt among them — debasing and issuing emergency small change as the Holy Roman monetary system collapsed under the pressures of early Thirty Years' War finance. Municipalities that had no traditional minting authority were suddenly striking coins out of desperation or opportunism, often both.

At 0.30 g in silver, the actual precious metal content would have been negligible given the debasement practices of the period.