1 Pfennig - Charles I

Charles I ruled Hesse-Cassel from 1670 until his death in 1730, and his reign coincided with the duchy's increasingly profitable trade in mercenary soldiers — a revenue stream that funded both his court ambitions and, indirectly, his coinage program. These tiny silver pfennig pieces were struck across a span of four decades, and the long production window accounts for considerable variation in die workmanship and planchet quality across the series.

At 0.30g, the silver content was largely nominal by this period, with the coins functioning more as accounting tokens than as bullion. Hoffmeister 1547 distinguishes several subvarieties within the type.