The "Schwarzpfennig" — black penny — takes its name from the darkened appearance these small silver pieces acquired through heavy circulation and the oxidation of their low-fineness alloy. Issued jointly under three Wittelsbach rulers sharing governance of the Upper Palatinate, the type reflects the fractured territorial administration of the region following the 1329 Pavia partition, which had split the Wittelsbach inheritance and left the Upper Palatinate under rotating collegiate rule for generations.
John of Neumarkt died in 1443, making issues bearing all three names attributable to the period immediately before or around that date — the overlap window is narrow.
The "Schwarzpfennig" — black penny — takes its name from the darkened appearance these small silver pieces acquired through heavy circulation and the oxidation of their low-fineness alloy. Issued jointly under three Wittelsbach rulers sharing governance of the Upper Palatinate, the type reflects the fractured territorial administration of the region following the 1329 Pavia partition, which had split the Wittelsbach inheritance and left the Upper Palatinate under rotating collegiate rule for generations.
John of Neumarkt died in 1443, making issues bearing all three names attributable to the period immediately before or around that date — the overlap window is narrow.