1 Pfennig Klippe

Augsburg's klippe issues of the early sixteenth century reflect the city's considerable mint autonomy during a period when the Holy Roman Empire's coinage system was fragmenting under the weight of competing local authorities. The square-cut flan — the defining characteristic of a klippe — was not purely decorative; such pieces were frequently struck as presentation or trial pieces, set aside from circulation almost immediately.

1521 placed this coin squarely in the year of the Diet of Worms, when Charles V was occupied with Luther rather than monetary reform.