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| Issuer | Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel |
|---|---|
| Year | 1621 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse lettering | PRO LEGE ET GREGE 1621 |
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| Additional information |
Frederick Ulrich's 12 Kreuzer belongs to the notorious Kipper und Wipper period of 1619–1623, one of the most catastrophic currency debasements in European history. Dozens of petty German princes — Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel among them — raced to mint debased small-denomination coins, collect sound currency in exchange, and export the bullion profit before neighboring territories caught on. The scheme was effectively a competitive race to the bottom, and it worked until it didn't: by 1623 the flood of worthless Kipper coins had triggered wage collapses, food riots, and the financial ruin of ordinary households across the Holy Roman Empire.
Frederick Ulrich himself was a weak ruler whose reign was marked by debt and administrative dysfunction — conditions that made Kipper minting politically irresistible.