10 Kreuzer

Chur's right to mint coin was a perpetual source of friction between the city and the Prince-Bishops who shared jurisdiction over the Graubünden region. The 1629 date places this piece squarely in the chaos of the Thirty Years' War, during which the Freestate of the Three Leagues — of which Chur was the leading city — became a contested corridor for Spanish and French military supply routes through the Alpine passes. Local minting activity during these years was driven as much by the practical collapse of reliable outside coinage as by any civic prerogative.

HMZ 2-489b distinguishes this from the closely related 489a variety. Examples in any grade are seldom encountered.